Dreams vs Reality
by Sayako Nightbringer
Summary: Erica Karsath is brought to her favorite game universe through a connection made by a dream and a strange necklace. But why this universe? And what do her dreams have to do with it? Based thinly off an old dream and a couple of books I read.
1. Dreams and Jewelery

**Chapter 1 - Dreams and Jewelery**

_Sayako Nightbringer_

_

* * *

I couldn't quite recognize where I was. In fact, I was sure that I had never been here before. There were no forests around my home that I could get to. None of the parks got this dark either. There weren't any street lamps. Only trees, boulders, stumps, and..._

_Snow?_

_I looked around me, surprised to see snow everywhere. One glance at my bare feet told me why my feet were numb. Staying put seemed like a bad idea, so I headed forward, ignoring the fact that I was just in jeans and a tee shirt._

_At first it seemed like the snowy forest stretched on forever, but the moment that thought crossed my mind, the forest opened up to a large lake frozen in ice. It looked like nobody was there, which was strange to me. I should have at least seen some wild animals by now, shouldn't I?_

_My hand jumped up to my throat as a silent gasp escaped me. For some reason I'd lost my voice, meaning that all of the things I usually would have said out loud ended up in my head. I shook it off and walked to the edge of the lake. It_ **looked** _harmless... So I stepped onto the very edge of the ice, nearly jumping at its freezing temperature._

_The ice didn't crack, so I calmly walked to the center of the lake. There at my feet was a black strip of cloth that reminded me of a choker. I picked it up to get a closer look at the gem at the center of the necklace. It had been black at first, but the moment my thumb brushed against it, the gem flashed and faded to a dark bluish violet. I didn't really care at the moment why it had done that, so I put it on._

_Electricity shocked my body for a moment before fading. But this time I sensed something and turned around to face it. Or them as I should have said. It was too dark for me to see what the person's face looked like, but it didn't seem like they could speak either. A thin hand reached up and pointed at their throat._

_It took me a moment to realize they were asking if I could talk – thinking that the necklace was what they were asking about – and I shook my head._

_**'I can't speak, but I can think.'**_ _I thought to myself, surprised to hear the thought echo around us._

_**'Are you dreaming too?'**_ _The guy – I could identify this by his voice – asked. I raised an eyebrow._

_**'...Dreaming? What do you mean?'**_

_**'You seriously think this would happen in reality?'**_ _He sounded like he thought I was insane. Which was fine, because I thought I was too. So I shrugged._

_**'Right now I don't really remember much. My head is too fuzzy to classify this as a dream just yet.'**_ _I explained. I could slightly sense him glaring at me, but before I could ask, I was violently pulled back into reality._

-x-

I sat up in bed, whacking my forehead on the bars for the top bunk of my bunk-bed. Clutching my forehead in one hand, I got up and walked into the living room to sit on my mom's bed. She was still asleep, but that's not what I cared about. I just wanted to stop panicking. My heart felt like it was in my throat. I don't know who that guy had been, but I felt like I should know who that voice belonged to. Eventually I calmed down enough to get my school stuff together and get dressed. I buttoned up my new winter coat and left the moment my clock showed 7:30.

The walk to school was uneventful. Just the usual cold and wind. I ran a little bit to make sure I was out there less. When I got to my first classroom, the door was open so I just plopped down on my spot on one of the four couches my English teacher had. The student teacher smiled at me before going back to setting up the beginning work for the day. Other students filed in over the course of the next half hour, my best friend being one of them.

She sat down next to me then took one look at my dark look and sighed.

"You okay?" she asked. I shrugged a little.

"Kinda... just weird dream." In an attempt to lighten the mood she grinned.

"About _him_?" I laughed and poked her elbow.

"Nope." That ended our conversation as the student teacher began the class. I thought about my dream mostly, not sure if it really was about him or not. The necklace wasn't here so I assumed it was just a dream. I couldn't recognize the dream guy's voice either. But I wasn't sure if it didn't match or I just didn't remember.

When the bell rang, I jumped a bit, startled. I really needed to stop spacing out. Telling my friend I'd see her in a later class, I hurried out the door and down the hallway to my computer class. I slumped into my chair with a sigh and logged onto the computer. Thanks to my computer being slow, I spaced out, glad to have my mind blank this time. When it loaded, I got onto the Internet and just looked at random fan art of dragons. Hey, I had nothing else to do.

About halfway through class I thought I heard a faint chime. I looked up suddenly, confused. The girl sitting next to me, thankfully another friend of mine, looked up at me with a similar confused look.

"You okay?" she asked. I nodded and settled back down only to hear the chime again. Frustrated, I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to get rid of the phantom sound. Almost as if I had given this thing a hint, it left me alone for the rest of the day.

-x-

I sat outside in the only climb-able tree in the apartment complex. It was a small dogwood and had broken branches from other kids who used to live here. The sun had already gone down, so I only had darkness around me. The cold night air was soothing only for the first half hour. Then the chime sounded again, but louder this time. I looked up from my hands to stare at the grass closer to where the wire and wood fences met where someone in a dark purple cloak sat.

**Come.** The voice came in their direction, and I was happy for anything different than what we'd call reality so I got out of the tree and walked over. An old wrinkled hand motioned for me to sit down before them, so I crossed my ankles and sat down on my winter coat.

"Who are you?" I asked, feeling more calm than I probably should have been.

**It is not yet time for you to know. However, you left something behind in the land of dreams. A connection that you must not lose sight of.**

Now I was confused. "I left something behind...?" I started. Realization hit me and my hand flew to my throat. My necklace...

**Yes. You must remember what you saw. It sits closely with something you know of, but have never really seen.**

"What I saw? You know the person that was there?!" She – the voice in my head was an old woman – nodded at me. I bit my lip then sighed. "You probably aren't going to tell me are you?" She shook her head.

**Because that would be telling the future. And you cannot know that. If you do, you won't come out of this safely.**

"But-!"

**I know you have questions, child. Understand that the more ignorant you are of your fate, the safer you and your companions are. Though not anything is as they seem. Take what you left behind in that dream and keep it safe, for it will soon be your only way home.**

She held out the necklace I had found in my dream. I was a little disturbed by her speech, but took it anyway and fastening it around my neck then hiding it under the collar of my turtleneck sweater. I looked up to say thank you, but the woman was gone. Leaving the cold winter wind as my only companion.

* * *

**Sayako- I don't currently have anything to copyright to besides my friend, but I will later. Especially when you see the next chapter.**

**

* * *

**

(This happened just before I put the chapter up. We had been talking about the two books that gave me this story idea. I'm sorry if you Twilight fans are offended. This section of each chapter in our stories will have either omake and/or random cast and crew conversations)

_Sayako: "I told you about the books before."_

_KikiDai: "I'm not sure if I should read it."_

_Sayako: "The second book has zombies in it."_

_KikiDai: "Yes! Zombies automatically make it a win!"_

_Sayako: *laughs* "Zombies make everything better."_

_Kikidai: "If Twilight had Zombie sex, it would be a win."_

_Sayako: *dies laughing* "Problem is... it would!"_

_KikiDai: "I hadn't mean't to say 'sex' there. It was accidental, I swear!"_


	2. Voices and Greetings

**Chapter 2 - Voices and Greetings**

_Sayako Nightbringer_

_

* * *

_

I sat at my computer at four in the morning, one of my freak occurrences where I'd wake up an hour or two before my alarm went off. It was a miracle that I had gotten to sleep in the first place. I hadn't dreamed about anything to my dismay. Anything would have been better than the woman's warning ringing in my mind. Sighing, I turned off my computer and went into my still-dark room.

I laid on my bed with my arms tucked underneath me so I could stare at the ceiling. Today was Saturday, but we wouldn't be seeing my Dad because he had called yesterday to say that he was still sick from the cold he had caught earlier in the week. Mom would be doing DJ stuff so it was just me and my brother.

_...ey..._

What?

I sat up, glancing around. Had I imagined that? Pain shot through my head, my hands shooting up to grip the sides of it in response.

_Hey!_

My eyes snapped up to my desk in front of me. Nothing was there, so I glanced to either side of me, but nothing was there either. Had I imagined th-

_I __**know**__ you can hear me!_

That stopped my internal rant cold. Because the voice had come from my head, not from around me.

_Finally, you get it! I've been trying to get your attention for about an hour now. Considering the pain in my head wouldn't leave me alone._

I sat still, hoping that if I somehow kept my mind blank, the voice would go away and I could pass off for sane again. A shiver went up my spine after a moment and I whimpered.

'Are you glaring at me?' I thought back to the odd voice-in-my-head.

_Gah! That's only because you're ignoring the problem here!_

'And what would that be, oh-so-powerful mind-buddy?' I taunted, not in the mood to be insane just yet.

_That we can hear each other? Are you really_ **that** _blind?_ The voice huffed. But I wasn't worried about them being mad. It was the way their tone hit that sentence that had caught me off guard.

'Um...' Yeah, very brilliant reply. The voice sighed tiredly.

_So I'm dealing with another idiot. As if the newcomers weren't enough. You just_ **had**_ to show up now...__  
_  
'Hey hey hey! You're not the only one confused here! I've got some selfish person in my head who can't be cooperative for more than five seconds.' I hissed back, glaring at my ceiling. 'And I didn't just "show up" as you put it. For some reason our minds connected.'

_Well if you know why, then fix it! I've already got a headache._

'Well _excuse_ me! I'm sorry for not knowing how to fix this mess!' I stood up and paced on the small stretch of clean floor that I could pace on. My mind-buddy kept ranting tiredly at me while I tried to think of whatever could have caused this. An unfamiliar weight on my neck caught my attention for the first time since last night. My hand reached up and touched the necklace softly, earning a yelp from the voice in my head.

_What the_ **HELL** _was that? I assume you did something because something touched my neck!_ The voice yelled. Instead of arguing though, I did the opposite.

I started laughing.

_What's wrong now? I just asked you something!_

'Of course...' I thought, laughing with relief. I wasn't crazy.

_"Of course" WHAT?_

'Did you have an odd dream a couple of nights ago? Where you were at a lake with lot of snow?'

_How does this relate to my problem?_

'_Our_ problem. Anyway, just answer the question.'

_I did. Now tell me what this has to do with... WHY are you laughing?_ The voice snarled at me. It must have been early in the morning for them too.

'Because I had the same dream. I assume it had been you I had talked to. But I got a strange necklace there. But it had been left behind when I woke up. But last night, and old woman showed up and gave it back to me.' I decided to leave out what the woman had told me. I didn't want to worry my mind-buddy. Even though I shouldn't really care with their attitude. But I did.

_Okay... So how does this relate to the pressure I felt on my neck?_

'Because I touched it.' I replied matter-of-factly. I touched the necklace again, earning another startled yelp.

_Don't_**DO**_ that! Ugh. Can I go back to sleep and forget about this?_

'I doubt that will work, but I'll stop bugging you.'

_Whatever._ The voice grumbled before my mind went silent. I smiled and sat back down on my bed. More sleep sounded nice. I moved to the other side of my mattress next to the wall and let my head fall onto my pillow.

"We'll need more than luck to get out of this..." I whispered, letting sleep claim me again.

-x-

When my older brother woke me up at noon, I was less than refreshed. I glared tiredly up at him. He shrugged, as my glares were nothing new, then left my room. I sighed and sat up, wrapping my arms around my upraised knees. The conversation a few hours ago was still fresh in my mind. I don't know if the link wasn't strong enough or something like that, but I couldn't tell whose voice it was. Or if it was male or female for that matter. Most likely my mind buddy didn't know me either, but I wasn't about to ask them.

I stared at the wall across from me, just letting myself blank out for a bit. It was odd, but something I couldn't tell anyone. I'd worry them if I did. Only Angel would believe me most likely. I sighed and laid my forehead on my knees. This was complicated, and I had all of today to myself. The thought of questioning my mind-buddy was entertaining, but I kept myself from it. Probably make them mad.

My silence didn't last long. After a while I caught a stray thought from my mind buddy. _You've got to be kidding me... I just met the idiot and he's trying to be friends?_

I giggled, not able to keep myself from responding. 'Is he blond?'

I didn't get a response for a few seconds. _Do you_ **mind**_? You startled me! It's hard to cover that up around people you know!_ I shrugged, temporarily forgetting they couldn't see it.

'Does it look... um, sound like I care?'

I got an angry scoff from my buddy. _Just be quiet while I deal with this moron. I'll deal with you later. _They snarled. I just laughed a little out loud then waited. It took about fifteen minutes before I heard my buddy again.

_Finally. Now, why are you here again?_

'Because we can't fix this separately. I'm sure we've gotta fix this together. And I'd like to know your name if we're gonna be stuck like this for a while. I'm not gonna call you mind-buddy this entire time.' I told them. There was a small silence before I got a reply.

_Fine, but then you tell me your name. It's Leon._

I was shocked at first, thinking that the name belonged to a character I like. But I shot that possibility down quickly. 'Got a last name with that?' I asked, wanting to make absolutely sure that he wasn't-

_Magnus._

I froze. I don't know if I lost track of time or what, but I heard his voice again after a little while.

_Oi. Did you finally decide to disappear?_ He mocked. I coughed.

'Um... no, I'm still here.'

_What's your problem? I need your name. I told you mine._

'Erica,' I responded after a tense moment. 'Erica Karsath.'

_Alright. Now be quiet so I can deal with the idiots._ He went silent, leaving me to myself. I just sat there, staring at the wall in a shocked daze. It was **him**! I took a deep breath, trying not to royally freak out.

It took half an hour to somewhat shake off my stupor enough for me to face my brother. He looked at my startled expression with a confused look before shrugging and looking back at his computer screen. I walked over to my computer and sat down, just staring at the blank monitor. I knew Leon was going to contact me again once he was done dealing with Stahn, Mary, and Rutee. I was sure now that it was them.

Eventually nerves took control and I left my brother alone to hide back in my room, curling up under the covers and staring at my phone which lay beside my pillow.

* * *

**Sayako: I don't own Leon! I swear! *hides***

***Pokes head out* I own myself though. Leon and the others belong to Namco.**


	3. Explanations and Phone Calls

**Chapter 3 – Explanations and Phone Calls**

_Sayako Nightbringer

* * *

_

When I looked at the clock again, an hour had already passed, signaling that I had probably dozed off. It was irritating, but a usual thing for me. I stayed curled up and contemplated bugging Leon for a moment. I didn't have to bother though. Because he contacted me.

_Remind me to throw the country boy into the ocean._ He growled at me, making me stiffen in surprise.

'Um... I'll do that.' I replied dumbly. 'Are you okay?'

_No._

I laid there, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, I decided to speak again. 'What's wrong with him that irritates you so much?'

_Everything about that moron annoys me. Same with the Lens thief._ He half-snarled.

'Lens?' I asked, having to hide the fact that I already knew what they were. Leon sighed in my head, probably with growing frustration.

_Lens are objects carried by monsters that are used to make a lot of items, weapons, and other things. Right now we have to go off to find a large Lens from the old war a long time back._ He explained.

'What's this large Lens called?'

_The Eye of Atamoni._ Leon answered.

I nodded before remembering that he couldn't see me at all. 'Um... I don't really know what to say to that...' I told him sheepishly.

_Idiot. Whatever, just keep quiet. There's something odd going on._ And with that he left me alone again. I huffed a little under my breath and sat up. There was nothing to do and he just wanted me to keep quiet?

Muffled buzzing nearly made me bang my head into the top bunk from being so startled. I looked back at my cell phone and picked it up with a soft glare.

"Now wha- oh..." I answered the call with a sigh. "Hello?"

_"Erica? You okay?"_ A familiar voice answered from the other end.

"I'm fine, Becky. Just some stupid things going on lately." I replied, debating on if I should tell her or not. Things were quiet for a moment before Rebeccah spoke up again.  
_  
__"Care to tell me? Or is it another of those 'it's my business' things?"_ She sounded offended, but I didn't really blame her for it. I'd been distancing myself from her for a while. I just couldn't agree with her on some points anymore.

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't understand it much myself. That and you wouldn't believe me."

_"Yes I would! I'd believe anything you said. You know I would, girl!"_ She replied.

I just shook my head, resigned. "I know. But if I told you, you'd go telling him about it all."

_"Would not!"_ Rebeccah protested.

"Becky." That was all I needed to say for her to get my point. I always had to remind her that we didn't think the same anymore. She was willing to wait for eternity for her wish.

I wasn't.

-x-

I'd ended up talking to Becky for a full three hours. By the time we'd hung up, I was ready to bang my head into the nearest wall. She just drove me so **nuts** sometimes! I tossed my phone onto my pillow and stood up, looking around for one of my books. I needed to clean up my room one of these days...

A knock at my door made me look up. "Yeah?"

"Erica, phone for you." My brother's voice answered from the other side of the door. I groaned and walked over, opening my door.

"Who is it now?" I half-whined, not quite ready to answer to anybody right now.

"Angel."

"AH!" I snatched the phone away from him and shut my door quickly, pulling the wireless up to my ear. "Sorry if you heard that! It's only been minutes since I got off the phone with Becky."

_"Oh. I'm sorry."_ Came the usual response to my irritation.

"Stop apologizing, Emil." I teased. We often teased each other with the names 'Emil' or 'Colette' depending on who apologized most that day. Of course, she had cosplayed at Emil for Kumoricon just before school started. Which I found ironic at times.

_"So what did she talk to you about?"_ Angel cut into my thoughts.

"Just the usual, but there is something I didn't tell her that I should probably tell you. Just don't flip out, kay?"

_"Okay."_

"Remember the dream I mentioned?" I leaned against one of the posts on my bunk bed, staring at the wall blankly.

_"Yeah. Why?"_

"Well, I got a strange necklace in that dream. But it was left behind when I woke up."

_"Wait, left behind? Do you mean to say you have it with you now?"_

"Yeah. This old woman yesterday after school gave it to me and said some really cryptic stuff. I don't know if she was all there or not, but if she's to be trusted, I'm probably going on some sort of adventure."

_"Aww... I wish I could go."_

"Believe me, I wish I could bring you. But that's not the strangest part. This necklace connected me to and anime character's mind. We can think either to each other or to ourselves apparently."

_"Go on..."_

"This necklace connected me to the mind of my favorite game character: Leon Magnus."

_"No way! How did that work out?"_

"You're asking the wrong person that question. I have no idea."

_"That's so weird... You're lucky though."_

"I am not! This is embarrassing as hell! You try having awkward conversations with the guy!"

_Oi._

"WAH!" I nearly dropped my phone in shock, but caught it in time.

_"Erica? What happened?"_

"He just spoke to me again! Hang on. Let me calm down and find out why he's talking to me." I told her, taking a few deep breaths before poking the necklace harshly.  
_  
__What the hell? I thought I told you to stop doing that!_

'Well too bad!' I snapped at him. 'You scared me!'

_How the hell did I scare you?_ Leon asked, probably raising an eyebrow if his tone was anything to go by.

'I was talking to my friend and you scared the hell out of me. Thankfully I already explained things on my end of this odd story.'

_Why did you tell them about this? Isn't it a better plan to keep this quiet until we figure it out?_

'She knows a lot about me and we share these types of things. She'll be able to help in the long run; she always has when we're writing stories or things like that.' I replied. 'Now what do you want?'

_Chaltier wanted to say hi._

I almost felt the impulse to try and stare at the necklace like it's grown a head. The **Swordian** wanted to say **hi?** Did I just hear that right?

'Um... tell him I say hi back. And please don't startle me again. I'll get back to you when I'm done talking to my friend.'

"Angel?"

_"Still here. You alright?"_

"Yeah. I think I'm going to hang up and try to sleep some more. This day has been way too weird. That and I need some answers out of Leon. Chal for some reason wanted to say hi to me."  
_  
__"That's odd. Okay. I'll see you Monday. Bye."_

"Bye." I hung up and took the phone back out to the dining room to hang it up before returning to my room. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder didn't they?

* * *

**Sayako: Tales of Destiny is owned by Namco, and whoever else. My friends own themselves. It'd be just odd if I did.**


	4. Mirrors and Arguments

**Chapter 4 – Mirrors and Arguments**

_Sayako Nightbringer

* * *

_

I waited until everyone had gone to bed that night to call for Leon again. Sitting on the top bunk amongst my stuffed animals, I sighed in my head.

'You awake?'

_Have been for a while. Where the heck did you run off to?_ He demanded, sounding accusatory.

'Hey, I'm not the one that interrupted you In the middle of a conversation with people who know nothing of this.' I grumbled back, glaring at my window lightly.

_Like I was supposed to know? Where'd you get the idea that I knew you were talking to other people? Don't you think I'd have left you alone if I had known?_

As much as I didn't like it, Leon did have a point there. He'd had no way of knowing I'd been busy talking to people. I also wanted to ask about Chaltier, but I had no way of putting it right now that would make him think I thought Chal was a person instead of a sword.

I sighed and picked up a tiny round mirror that had been tossed into the huge heap of stuffed animals who-knows-when, staring at it blankly.

Then I nearly shrieked and dropped it, but I held on at the last second.

The reflection looked really startled too.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming..."

"I don't think you are." The reflection replied back. This time me hearing it instead of it resonating in my head.

"You're at a mirror too?" I asked, still wary that my mind was playing tricks.

"Of course I am, idiot." Leon grumbled, glaring at me. I had to look away a little, thankful that my room was dark right now. "What's wrong with you all of the sudden?"

I laughed weakly. "I don't know if I want to believe I'm sane just yet. I mean, nothing out of the ordinary happens in my life for 16 years and suddenly **this** happens." He raised an eyebrow at me. Then he stared at my throat where the necklace rested.

"The necklace looks different then what we saw in that dream."

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" I asked, reaching up with my free hand to hover over the pendant. Leon frowned.

"Don't do that, I can't see it enough to describe it to you otherwise." I lowered my hand. "Better. Well, what we saw was a plain black cloth necklace with a plain gem on it, but now it has some sort of light blue embroidery along the bottom of the cloth and the top of the cloth is a stripe of the same color. The gem has some sort of legless dragon curled around it, I think. The wings are half folded on either side of the gem and dragon. It doesn't look right to me really, but that's what it looks like. It's too dark over there to tell what the gem looks like now." Leon explained, crossing his arms.

I looked down, trying to see the necklace. Unable to see it still – though it was obvious before I even tried – I instead reached up to brush my fingers along the dragon. On the other side of the mirror, Leon jumped a little, his hand flying to his throat.

"I said don't **DO** that! How many times do I have to tell you that?" he half-yelled. I flinched at the volume. We'd kept relatively quiet until now.

"Quiet!" I hissed back at him, dropping my hand again. "I don't need either of us waking my family up and having them wonder if I've finally lost my sanity!"

Leon was the one to flinch this time. "Don't remind me. I'm lucky that the blond idiot can't wake up even if his life depended on it. The Lens Thief and her partner I'm worried about though."

I frowned. He hadn't said anything about Phillia. "Is that all of the people with you? Or is there more people? Like the person who said hi to me yesterday... Chaltier was it?" Good, I got that out there.

Leon shrugged. "A priestess, but she's nothing to worry about. She's too timid that even if she did find out, she wouldn't bring it up. As for Chaltier, he's not a person. He's my sword." He told me, lifting Chaltier for me to see. I stared at the swordian for a moment then grinned.

"That's a well-made sword. So you said he can talk?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah, but only those who can wield them, Swordian Masters, can hear them. I don't think you could."

I jumped a little when a small tired yawn came out of the air around Leon. Startled, I locked eyes with him.

"What the heck was that?" Leon seemed to fight the urge to tilt his head in confusion. Because his eyes were extremely confused.

"That was Chal- Wait... You _heard_ him?" He looked down at his sword then secured it back to his belt. "We'll have to test that another time when he's awake." he spoke when I hadn't responded out of shock. I just nodded dumbly, looking away from the mirror.

"Um... I... should probably let you... go to bed now..." I nearly stuttered, fidgeting a little.

Leon looked back up at me then nodded again. He didn't seem to understand why I was so nervous all of a sudden, but I was inclined to keep it that way. I set the mirror down a little away from me, watching the light fade and return to reflecting my ceiling.

After watching it for a while, I cursed under my breath and climbed down to my bottom bunk to curl up in my blankets.

"What the **hell** am I _doing_?"

-x-

I groaned when morning came around, watching the numbers on my clock turn to seven o'clock in bright green lights. Yawning a little, I sat up and hugged my knees, glaring at my feet hidden underneath my blankets. I hadn't slept much, waking up around five or so. There had been something nagging at me, but I hadn't been able to pinpoint it.

"Erica- Oh! You're awake." I heard my mother say from my suddenly open door. I looked over at her, shrugging with tired eyes.

"I don't want to be. Slept only a couple of hours."

She looked worried, but then noticed my necklace. "Oh that's cool! Did one of your friends give that to you?"

I reached up to touch the necklace, but stopped before I did. "Um... you could say that."

My mother raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask and further questions about it. She walked over to my bed and sat down, watching my face carefully. Just as carefully as I kept up a blank mask.

"You've got bags under your eyes," She chuckled, reaching up and rubbing her thumb underneath one of my eyes, forcing it closed.

I sighed and pulled away from her. "I figured that. Though I don't feel too tired. I'll probably crash early tonight though."

_Oi._

It took all I had to keep myself from freaking out at the sudden greeting, failing anyway.

"WAH!" I yelped, flailing for a moment and startling my mother.

"Erica? You okay?" she asked, panicked.

'WHAT THE _**HELL**_?' I yelled back at Leon, still shaken up.

_Whoa! What's you're problem now?_ He grumbled, having no way to understand what just happened.

"Erica?" My mother asked again, touching my shoulder. I jumped a little and focused back on her.

"Sorry, just... um..." I looked at my feet, unable to think of an excuse. "Just being crazy, I guess..."

She tilted her head worriedly. "Crazy? That hardly counted as crazy, honey. Something obviously startled you. What happened?"

_Are you there?_

'Shut up for a moment, okay?' I snapped, glaring at my feet. 'I've got to somehow avoid my mother finding out that I'm talking to you!'

There was silence on the other side of my head, so I looked back up at my mom. "I'm okay now. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Erica, what's going on?"

"Mom, just trust me and don't ask, okay?" I pleaded. "It's going to sound crazy if I told you, and I can't risk anything."

This seemed to be the bad choice of words, because her eyes narrowed. "Risk? Alright, young lady, what's going on. Where did that necklace /really/ come from?"

I felt like shrinking back into my pillows, realizing how stupid I'd been. 'Crud...'

_What did you do_ **now**_?_ Leon asked, sounding like he dreaded the answer.

'Well, the secret isn't going to be a secret anymore. Time to let my mom in on it. Just be ready in case I have to show her the mirror thing.'

_If there's no way out of this predicament you put us in, then fine._ He replied, going quiet.

I took a deep breath then looked at my mother square in the eyes. "This necklace came from a dream."

Mom looked skeptical. "Oh _really_ now?"

I flinched at her tone, but nodded anyway. "I don't remember too much of the dream, but it was in a place with a lot of snow and trees. On top of the frozen lake was where I found this necklace. There was a person in my dream too, but I didn't figure out who it was until yesterday."

"When did you have this dream?" she asked, crossing her arms and watching my face carefully.

"Friday. But I didn't get this necklace until yesterday from some sort of cryptic old lady." I replied. She sighed, shaking her head.

"I thought you knew better than to talk to strangers."

I waved my hands in front of me a little. "No! That's not it! It was while you were gone at work and I'd been taking trash out," I had to omit the part where I'd been out there of my own accord or I'd probably be grounded. "She had been sitting on the grass in her cloak then she spoke to my mind."

Mom raised an eyebrow at me, focused on me again. "Spoke to your mind? Are you sure you didn't dream this up?"

It was my turn to sigh. "I'm absolutely certain I wasn't dreaming. But she said some really cryptic stuff and then spoke about me leaving something behind in the dream. When I remembered the necklace, she gave it to me. Though, now the necklace won't come off."

She tilted her head and motioned for me to move closer. I did and pulled my hair over my shoulder so she could see there was no seam on the back of the necklace.

"Have you tried cutting it?"

I flinched at the thought, confusing my mother. "I don't think that's a good idea. See, every time I touch this necklace, my mind buddy feels it. I don't want him thinking that I'm trying to sever his head from my world."

A skeptical look crossed my mom's face again. "So... if I'm getting this right, that necklace is letting you talk to someone from another world?"

"Yeah. The same person who'd been in my dream. He told me that he'd had the same dream. I think he remembers more of it than I do though."

She placed a hand on my forehead for a moment then sighed. "Have I been neglecting you? Is that why you've come up with this story?"

I gaped at my mother, having to take a few seconds to fully take in what she'd just said. When it sunk in, I leapt to my feet, glaring at her. "Do you have any idea what it's like having to juggle a mind conversation without making everyone think I'm strange? I just found out last night that we can communicate though mirrors! Why don't you believe me?"

"Now listen here, young lady. How in the world do you to expect me to believe something like this? When you don't even remember too much of what's been told to you?"

I stood there, feeling heat rush though my veins along with a rush of anger. "You **know** that I don't like remembering conversations. I've **told** you all that I can. **Now **I'm telling you that I can prove this to you if you'll just give me a chance!"

"Are you two okay in there?" My brother's voice came from the doorway. My mother looked up and smiled at him, but I kept my gaze on my feet, ignoring him.

"We're fine in here. Your sister is just a little tired this morning," She replied, standing and walking over to the doorway while my brother left to go get on his computer, probably. I could tell that she looked back at me, because her voice sounded directed at me. "When you've fully woken up, come and tell me what's wrong, okay?" And with that parting sentence, she shut my door behind her.

I stood there for a moment then sunk to my knees, fighting the urge to slam my fists into my floor. Instead I touched the gem on my necklace, hearing a startled yelp from Leon.

_What the he- Hey. What's up with you?_ I heard him ask, probably being able to sense some portion of my frustration.

'My mother didn't even listen to a freaking word I said. She ignored **everything** and didn't even listen when I said I could prove that this is **real**!' I snapped back, fighting tears.

There was silence on the other side, but I paid it no mind. He was probably relived that we didn't have to pull up the mirror trick again...

_I can't say I've had better._

I blinked, looking up at my wall for something calm to look at. 'What do you mean?'

Leon sighed. _I tried to explain to Chal, but it won't come out right, so he's just worried that I haven't been sleeping well. Although, I'm not really surprised. This sort of thing would be extremely against what I'd usually do._

'Well, the mirror trick would probably work on him. But I'm not sure I want to try right now.'

_Why?_

'When I get frustrated, I have to try not to cry. If I try to talk about it now, I'll probably cry.'

_Do you really have anything better to do? Who knows, Chal might be able to help._

'You're weirdly nice today. Did you eat something wrong?' I teased, feeling myself smile a little at Leon's spluttering response.

_I have the ability to be nice sometimes! I'm not a stuck up brat!_

I laughed out loud at that one. 'So, you've been paying attention to whatever teasing you hear then? I didn't know you cared that much.'

_I don't! Now find a stupid mirror before I find a wall to hit my head on!_

Giggling to myself, I got the small mirror from my top bunk then sat against the wall on my bottom bunk. I stared at it for a moment, then frowned.

"How the hell do I turn this thing on- Ah!" I grinned a little as the mirror switched to show Leon's glaring face. "Nice to see you too."

"Yeah, that'll teach me to be nice to you again," He grumbled, looking down at Chaltier I assumed. The mirror wasn't big enough on either side I assumed to see him completely.

"Chal, say something, she's here."

"Really?"

Chaltier appeared in a transparent version of his human self, watching me carefully. His gaze drifted to the necklace then he grinned.

"So Bo-chan wasn't lying! I'm glad."

"Chal, just say hello, that'll really get irritating soon."

Chaltier smiled back at Leon. "Sorry." He turned back towards me and bowed slightly. "My name is Chaltier like you probably already know. You're Erica-san?"

"Um, yeah..." I replied, nodding. It was odd, being able to talk to the swordian. Actually, once I thought about it, it was confusing.

"Any ideas on why I can hear you? The way Leon said it, it seemed like not many people can."

Chaltier shrugged. "I don't really understand it myself. All of the swordian masters have been found, but you're not from our world, so I don't know if it applies to outside our world."

"Ah."

I sighed and put the mirror next to me where I could still see it, but so I could hug my knees. I rested my head on my arms, watching Leon and Chaltier whisper about something. My thoughts drifted while they talked, slowly trying to drag me back into my earlier frustration. Biting my lip, I bury my face in my arms.

"Erica-san?" Chaltier asked from the mirror beside me, sounding worried. When I didn't look up, I could hear him call Leon back over to the mirror.

"Oi. What's wrong with you now?" Leon asked, his tone a little frustrated.

"Hey, Erica?" my mother's voice came from the suddenly open door. I jumped, my head snapping up to stare at her with wide eyes. My heart dropped to my stomach as I tried to think of a quick way to hide the mirror.

"Yeah mom?" I asked, glancing at the mirror with wide eyes. Leon was keeping Chaltier quiet, watching me carefully.

Mom sighed, crossing her arms. "I just wanted to see if you were feeling okay enough to explain what's going on."

I felt the frustration come back full force, and suddenly my vision was blurry as I glared at my mother. "I'm not lying! This necklace is real! Why don't you believe me?"

"This again?" She asked, looking worried. "Erica, things like that don't happen. We've talked about this kind of stuff before when you talked about that Leon guy."

My stomach now decided to freeze on me as dread settled in. Why did she have to bring that up now of all times?

Leon kept quiet, which I was thankful for, but I'd probably get an earful later. I bit my lip and focused my now clear gaze on mom.

"I still believe it's real. I'm not crazy, and I'm not lying."

"Erica... you know my opinion on this. I know you don't like hearing this, but they're not real people."

I looked at my knees and closed my eyes tightly. "...Go away..."

"Erica... Come on, sweetie." my mother tried coaxing. I didn't even bother to try bringing up the mirror, but it was brought up against my will.

"Why aren't you listening to her?" Leon's voice came from beside me.

"Who's that?" My mom asked, startled. I raised my head and looked at the mirror, surprised a little myself. Why was he...?

"The person your daughter said she's talking to. She's telling the truth."

I picked up the mirror. "Are you sure about letting other people know?"

Leon nodded, crossing his arms. Chaltier had disappeared at some point, but I wasn't complaining. "She doesn't seem to believe you otherwise. Show the mirror to her, we'll prove that you're not making things up."

I smiled a little, then turned the mirror towards my mother, who was sitting on the bed now and watching in confusion. "But... how?" she asked, looking at me.

"Like I said. It all started with the dream. We don't know how this all happened, but it did. And there's something big that's going to happen, I'm sure of it," I said.

"All of the proof is here. This isn't something three people can dream up." Leon added.

Mom sat there for a moment then reached forward and pulled me into a hug, which surprised me.

"Eh?" I struggled to look up at her, but after a moment decided to look down at the mirror where Leon had his own confused look.

"I'm sorry... I just-"

"Hey, mom. It's okay. I understand. Seriously, I do." I interrupted her, patting her shoulder before pulling away. I had to admit, it was the quickest and most interesting argument between us yet.

"I don't understand you two..." Leon sighed, making both of us laugh.

"Well, how do we work with this?" Mom asked, looking at me.

I tilted my head, thinking hard. "I'm not too sure. I-"

My vision wavered suddenly, so I held my hand against my eyes for a moment before pulling it away...

And yelping in surprise.

Right there, for the three of us to see, was my see-though hand. Mom and Leon traded glances, then both started to panic – Leon less visibly than my mother – when the rest of my body started to follow my hand's example.

I groaned. "You've gotta be kidding m-"

"ERICA!"

I felt my world disappear from around me, pulling me into the cold feeling of unconsciousness. I'd never fainted before, so it was strange to me. But I could comprehend one thing before my mind was lost:

My adventure had begun.

* * *

**Sayako: *looks around* Do I have to say I don't own Tales of Destiny every time a chapter is put up?**

**Naiyo: Unfortunately.**

**Sayako: *sighs***

**Nova: Sayako doesn't own Tales of Destiny.**

**Sayako: When did you get here?**

**Nova: Just now. You just weren't paying attention.**

**Sayako: Go back to your story! *pushes away***


	5. Meetings and Worries

**Chapter 5 - Meetings and Worries**

_Sayako Nightbringer

* * *

_

I woke up to really hard flooring, which I wasn't too sure how it had gotten there. Sitting up slowly, I let my eyes come into focus, which was much harder to do than usual. After I regained my focus, I took a look at the wide room around me.

It was much bigger than any other room I'd been in, even bigger than the gym at my school. This room was longer that it was wide and had a tall, sloping ceiling. The walls were white and there were some columns against the walls that connected to the arches holding up the ceiling.

Only problem with me calling it a church was that there was no furniture in here. Almost like something huge was meant to be stashed in here.

I shivered involuntarily when I thought of just what could have been hidden here. Especially with the suspicion I had that I'd been teleported to another world.

That thought reminded me of what had happened before I'd passed out, which hit me hard.

"Crap... Mom's got to be freaking out by now..." I mumbled to myself, pressing a hand to my forehead. I didn't have much time to dwell on this thought when a door banged open across the room, startling me enough to make me scramble to my feet.

Three oddly dressed men walked in through the doorway, stopping not too far from me. They didn't say anything at first, but then the man in the middle stepped forward a couple of steps.

"So you're awake."

I didn't say anything to that, but it made me wonder just how long I'd been unconscious if they knew I'd been in here.

The man standing on the right and dressed in blue glared at me, but said nothing. I fought the urge to sink my head into my shoulders while the man who had spoken raised an eyebrow.

"I don't understand what made it so important to bring you here. But besides that, you'll be leaving once the transport gets here."

"Why?" I blurted out, my mind racing to figure out which world I could possibly be in.

"He has no reason to explain anything to you," the man standing to the left snapped. I gave in the the urge from earlier and sunk my chin to my shoulders. At least he wasn't yelling at me.

The man in the middle held his hand out slightly to the one on the left, almost as a signal to calm down, or something. "We have no need to be hostile as long as she cooperates. Though we do not have to explain anything, we can at least tell her what is to be expected of her."

"High Priest..."

The High Priest shook his head, but then gave a soft smirk which made me shiver. "No worries, everything will be as planned..."

"High Priest!"

The three men turned to see another man run into the room and up to them. He looked a little scuffed up, which instantly made me think that wherever we were was...

"We've got intruders!"

Bingo.

The High Priest scowled. "And you haven't stopped them?" he barked, making me and the messenger cringe.

"We've tried, sir! They're too powerful!"

"We can handle them." The man dressed in blue growled. I was starting to guess that they were priests, considering the main guy was called the High Priest.

The man dressed in red looked over at the other two while the messenger left. "What about the girl?" he asked. The High Priest looked back at me then at the blue priest.

"You'll bring her along. She may become useful if what he said was true."

The blue priest walked over to me, making me step back, but not fast enough. He grabbed my upper arm roughly, ignoring my "ow!", and dragging me along behind the High Priest and the red priest.

I had no choice but to follow them through the confusing mass of hallways. There were people rushing around; looking for the intruders probably. After quite a few hallways that I'd never remember, we found a set of stairs leading down into what I guessed was another storage room.

The Head Priest scowled at the sight of unconscious priests before leading us down into the darkness. I shuddered a little, thankfully keeping my arm from shaking so I didn't tip the blue priest off.

I almost didn't want to know what we were about to find, but then a voice carried through the passageway to us.

"_...exactly like the room where the Eye of Atamoni was kept..."_

My eyes widened, almost not believing what I had just heard. The three priests stopped at well, the Head Priest looking back at me and my shocked expression.

I really hardly noticed their careful looks, because my heart was ready to claw itself out of my chest. If I'd heard right, then the Eye of Atamoni meant I was somewhere I thought I'd never reach. Which meant I hadn't been transported randomly.

I'd been brought here on purpose. I guessed it was because of my knowledge of this world, but I had no idea who would know about it.

A more rational side of my mind spoke up. _The old woman seemed to know._

I fought the urge to shake my head. _But how could she? Unless I was being stalked somehow, not too many people know just how much I understand about Tales of Destiny..._

"What're you grinning about?" the blue priest's voice cut though my thoughts, making me realize the smile that had fought itself onto my face. I tried to fight it down, but I was too excited to.

"Nothing much. Just reminded myself of something funny." I lied, hoping they wouldn't pry. The Head Priest 'hmm'ed and led us further down the passageway.

The four of us entered a large, dark room that reminded me of the bright room I'd woken up in except more storage-y. The high Priest reached over to the wall and turned on the light, causing the other people in the room to look over in surprise.

There were five of them. One was a blue eyed blond man with white armor, white pants, a blue undershirt, red and black gloves, and a thin cape. In his gloved hand was a red and white sword with a strange gem set into it.

Three of them were all women. There was a green haired girl with glasses and dressed in, what I guessed, was priestess robes. In her arms was a large, cracked sword that also had a gem set into it.

She was shorter than the other two women, one of which had black hair and violet eyes. She dressed in black and red with white shoulder guards. Sheathed across her lower back was her sword. I couldn't really see the colors, but I knew that it had it's own gem as well.

The third woman had orange hair and tan skin. Her sword looked ordinary, unlike the unique swords the other four in her team had. Her armor was orange.

My eyes moved to the last member of the group, meeting startled violet eyes I'd already seen twice before coming here.

He was dressed in a blue and red tunic with gold trim and white pants. Over his shoulders and clipped together by a metal clasp was a pink cape. Underneath the tunic was a violet turtleneck. In his hand was the first sword I'd seen across the mirror, Chaltier.

The High Priest spoke up while I'd been observing the group. "What are you doing here?"

The blond tensed a little bit, lifting his sword to point it at us. The priests didn't look amused, and the High Priest just smirked.

"Ah, I see we have some rodents here. I didn't think you would be able to follow us this far... But unfortunately, what you're looking for is no longer here," he spoke with a full mocking tone that made me cringe.

The blond's face pulled into a frown. "So the Eye of Atamoni was at this temple," he spoke, his eyes glancing at me in confusion. His eyes moved to where my arm was being held by the priest and then his grip on his sword tightened. It confused me at first until I glanced down at my arm and saw the problem.

Just barely visible around the blue priest's hand was a slow-forming bruise. I glared at the man's hand a little, but had to turn my attention to the conversation that was continuing without me.

"Yes. But it was taken away again by Lydon."

The green haired priestess gasped. "I knew it! Lydon _was _here!" she exclaimed, which I wasn't too sure why she was so surprised. From what I knew, they already knew who they were chasing. Ah, I wasn't going to get hung up on details.

I looked over to the red priest, who was watching the girl carefully.

"Hmm... I saw you this afternoon. As I suspected, you were an impostor," he said finally.

"Speak for yourselves!" The girl snapped, which was again surprising. She was a more soft-spoken person, but then again, there was little I knew about their full selves. So I guessed that there were small things I'd have to get used to. "Why don't you reveal your true identities!"

The red priest stuttered. "F, fake? We're perfectly respectable priests!"

I felt the grip on my arm tighten, which made me wince because of my new-found bruise. "We swore our allegiance to Lydon's vision- The Eye of Atamoni will control the world!" the blue priest argued.

"And when that happens, we will reign supreme over the world. We will make them understand that humans are powerless before the great Eye of Atamoni," the High Priest added with a sneer. He looked back at me, and I just stared at him, confused.

The blond glared slightly. "Hey, you're no different than us!"

"That's heresy! Atamoni's love is universal!" the priestess said. The High Priest looked away from me to look at th group again. He 'humphed'. "Nonsense! The complex teachings of Atamoni are beyond the grasp of a simpleton like you!"

She didn't seem to take that well, and I felt a little bad for her. The Teachings of Atamoni was her life, so to be told something like that couldn't feel good.

"No, Atamoni is..." she began, not quite about to find a comeback. Though another voice answered for her.

"Enough!"

My gaze switched to look at him, my heart jumping into my throat again, which I found irritating. It didn't do that when I talked to him across the mirror...

"We have no time for theological arguments! We have no use for you fools. If you tell us where Lydon went, we'll let you go!" he snapped, crossing his arms. I almost felt like laughing. He just didn't like it when people stalled did he?

The High Priest didn't look phased. "Oh, I don't know about that. But I wouldn't tell you even if I knew. All we need to do is sit back and watch Lydon's monster army take control of the world."

"The monster army?" the blond exclaimed, startled.

"Do you know what the monsters' source of life is? It's Lens. Oberon Corporation's cargo ships are pirated for their Lens shipments. The Lens is then used to produce monsters," the High Priest explained. The blond stood there in shock. All of the group seemed to be surprised by this information.

"That can't be!" he said finally, letting his shock wear off a little.

_"That kind of technology shouldn't exist now!"_ another voice spoke, though only four others besides me heard it. I looked towards the direction of the voice and figured it'd come from the priestess's cracked sword.

The High Priest continued, he couldn't hear the other voices from the swords. "Heh, heh, heh...it's only a matter of time. Lydon will assume control of weakened countries, one by one, with the power of the Eye of Atamoni."

"I'm surprised that Lydon was behind the pirating of Lens cargo ships near Fitzgald." I looked over at the teen who'd spoken again, but this time he looked at me with a look that seemed to be trying to tell me something. Just barely, enough for him to see, I tilted my head to tell him I couldn't read his look before focusing on the High Priest.

"Even the mere interruption of the Lens supply to Seinegald will help our cause. It will disrupt their economy, because Lens is an important part of Seinegald's industry and finance. Since the Lens is also used to create monsters, it's truly a case of killing two birds in one stone. Well, I've had enough idle chatter. We won't allow you to interfere with Lydon. We will destroy you now. Attack them!"

The blue priest pulled me aside before dropping me by the wall. He and the two other priests rushed to the group, but that wasn't the surprising part. What scared the heck out of me was the monsters that filed in behind them.

Instantly the blond's group was in action, trying to hack down the monsters and the priests at the same time. The priests didn't make it easy for them, alternating between hiding behind the monsters and then taking the front of the action.

A low growling pulled my attention to the area in front of me, and I nearly screamed. _Nearly._

In front of me was a dark wolf on the slightly large side, and it was eying me with its bright yellow eyes.

I saw the muscles under it's rough fur tense, and this time I tried to back away. Though the only thing I could do was press against the cold wall.

Before the wolf could lunge – and rip my head off – a wall of earth ripped through the ground, coming up beneath the wolf and knocking the wind out of it. It backed off, but then turned to it's offender and attacked.

I watched the teen's sword rip through the wolf's skin easily, coming away bloody. At first this fact confused me, but then I realized that this wasn't a game where monsters dissipated to keep the rating low.

People could really bleed to death here, and that fact hit me hard. Let's just say I'd been hoping that there wouldn't be any blood and guts. Blame the horror movies I'd been forced to watch.

The priests were forced back, scratched up and panting, with bodies of dead monsters all around. The High Priest glared and summoned almost twice as many monsters, trying the assault again.

This time the monsters didn't bother with me, just focusing on the ones killing their comrades, if they thought that way. It didn't matter though, bodies were still ripped apart by flames and walls of earth.

The priests stumbled back again, probably not quite believing that they'd been beaten, _twice_. The high Priest looked over at me with a dark look that made me shudder before the three of them escaped to live another day.

The dark haired teen sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Hah, powerless lackeys. Well, at least we know what our next destination is."

The blond grinned at him. "So now we..." His gaze moved over to me, and dropping his grin for a confused look he said: "Who's that?"

I cringed, but made my way to my feet. There were five – not including the talking swords – pairs of eyes on me, which made me nervous.

"Um... Hi?" Crap, that wasn't supposed to sound like a question.

The teen crossed his arms. "Why were you with those priests?" he asked, watching me carefully.

I shook my head. "I really have no idea. I woke up probably a half an hour ago, so I've got no real clue to what they wanted with me. Though I'm sure it had something to do with what they must have been hiding here."

"The Eye of Atamoni," the blond filled in for me. I nodded.

"Yeah, that thing."

"Were you planning on helping them?" the woman with dark hair asked, not looking too happy with me.

I shook my head. "Heck no. That's not even on my list of things to do, so there's no chance." I replied, cradling my left arm with my right so I could study the bruise.

"Do you have any more information to what they were planning than what they told us?" the dark haired teen asked.

I thought back to my conversation with the priests earlier. "Well... They said that I was going to leave once someone came by to pick me up. But we were told that you guys were here before they could tell me anything."

"Then we'll need to go to... Fitzgald, right?" the blond said, looking at the teen.

"Exactly." he replied.

"What about her?" the orange haired woman asked, speaking up finally.

The group studied me for a moment, and I had to fight down the urge to fidget. The dark haired woman spoke up after a moment.

"If we take her along, we might be able to trick them to tell us what's going on when we catch up to Lydon. If he was the one who wanted her, surely he'd want to try and get her, so we can get our information then. If nothing else, then if she would be the thing to tip the scales to their side, then we have a sure victory. And then the reward is _mine_!" she said, cackling softly to the last sentence.

I laughed nervously. Though I was glad to be coming along, I was really afraid of them doubting me.

"We'll take her along, even if it's only to keep her out of Lydon's hands," the teen agreed, looking over at me. The blond stepped forward.

"Well, as long as we're going to be traveling together, might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Stahn. Stahn Aileron."

The black haired woman sighed. "Rutee Katrea."

The green haired girl smiled sympathetically. She probably understood the feeling of just being a tag-along that I would probably feel after a while. "Phillia Phylis."

The orange haired woman actually walked over to me and held her hand out. "Mary Argent," she said, letting me reach up to shake her hand.

"Leon Magnus."

I dropped Mary's hand and looked over at him. He looked a little irritated, probably wanting to question me. I nearly shuddered but then sighed to relax my nerves.

"Erica Karsath."

Stahn looked over at Leon. "We should probably get back to the ship. Right, Leon?"

He crossed his arms and gave Stahn the 'Are you really that stupid?' look, which made the blond splutter.

"Of course we're going back to the ship you blockhead. Get moving!" he barked, startling them into action, and startling me into staying put. He watched the others go on ahead then looked at me. I 'eep'ed when he walked over and headed towards the door.

"Erica."

I stopped and looked back at him. He had a serious expression on his face. It melted into a half anger which I don't think he was going to hold back, even towards me.

"Do you have any idea how scared you made your mother before we lost contact?" he hissed unhappily. My heart sank to my feet as I remembered just how I'd gotten here.

I'd vanished in front of my mother's eyes. How long was she going to believe that I was still alive? She wouldn't know where I'd been dragged off to, so she couldn't be sure I'd run into Leon. I'm sure she'd told him something from the angry look in his eyes, but I didn't want to ask.

He walked over to me and pushed me forward slightly to get me moving. "H-Hey! What's up with you huh? I've only been gone a few hours! It's nothing to worry about!"

Though I had doubts that I'd been asleep for only a few hours. Last time I'd talked to Leon he was around the point where Phillia got her weapon. But I didn't know how far away that was from here.

We walked silently in the hallways for a while, a bit away from the others before he spoke up again.

"What did your mother mean about you two talked about me before?"

I stopped in shock, my eyes staring at my feet. He stopped a few steps in front of me, but I don't know if he looked at me or not. I had really hoped he wouldn't bring that up, especially that!

My heart was pounding, almost rendering me unable to speak. I was somehow able to pull my voice back though.

"The... story... of this time is kinda... um... written down in my world. The stories of a lot of worlds are. And... I really like your guys' story that I tended to talk about it a lot," I started. The longer I talked, the more my heart calmed down enough for me to speak. "Though whenever I mentioned about wanting you guys to be real, mom would never listen and always say how she wished some characters existed but knew they didn't. She'd try to say that I was going though the _same_ thing she had. I wasn't though. I knew there was a difference, and I couldn't get her to see it. It's why she said that."

Leon was quiet, taking all this information in. I started to wonder if he noticed that I hadn't explained everything when he sighed and pulled me forward so we could start following the others again. I kept walking when he let me go, but I didn't look up.

"You were missing for three days." he said finally.

_That_ is when I looked up at him.

"What? It's been three days since I'd talked to you last? How?"

"I don't know. They might have kept you asleep if you think you've only been out for a few hours," he replied, looking back at me slightly.

I looked at my feet again as we walked out into the sunlight, making me squint a little from the dark hallways. Looking up, I gaped at the difference from this world from my own. The towns didn't have very big houses, not more than two stories probably. I'm sure that only castles held more than two floors, but it was surprising.

"Oi, Leon! Erica! Hurry up, we don't want to be late!" Rutee called. We glanced at each other then ran after them, reaching the dock after a minute or two. I gaped at the large ship in front of me, not finding the words to fit. Even if our drawbridges back home opened up, this ship wouldn't fit under a couple of them.

"Come on."

I looked up at Leon then nodded, following him onto the ship. Once there my eyes widened at the view. Even at the edges of the horizon, the sky was _clean_. No tinge of smog at the edges of a beautiful sky. I ran to the other side of the ship, gripping the edge and watching the horizon.

"Well, we don't have to worry about that at least," I heard Stahn say. I looked back at him to see him looking at me.

"What?" I asked, completely confused.

"I mean we don't have to worry about you being afraid of the ocean."

I shook my head. "I love the water. I only lived near a big river back home. The only time I've seen the ocean is when we went of beach trips."

Stahn shrugged and left to go find the others. I looked back at the ocean and frowned. Thinking about just how long I'd been gone made me worry about mom. She'd probably told my older brother and my dad by now.

"Crap..." I mumbled, putting my head in my hands. If she'd told my dad, how would he be taking this? He and mom had become really protective of me over the past few years. Sure there was a lot that had been happening, but I could take care of myself. I wasn't going to get killed on this journey. Scratched up and bruised, yes, but not killed.

I just wondered how I'd handle _that_...

* * *

**Sayako: Holy crap, I managed to get another chapter up. I'm sorry it took so darn long, but my first write-through of this chapter was really bad so I had to write it over again. I feel better about this version, but I still want to hear what you guys think. I'm really happy that so many of you are reading this(even if you don't review). Those that do review, I've got something to ask of you:**

**Tell me whenever something seems off or rushed to you. I'm still working on writing fights and whatnot so I know that's bad, but _please_ tell me if something is good or bad and be _specific_. I need to know what is good and what isn't.**

**Either way, I hope you continue to enjoy this story and I don't own Tales of Destiny.  
**


	6. Tantrums and Seasickness

**Chapter 6: Tantrums and Seasickness**

_Sayako Nightbringer_

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* * *

**

I am so stupid.

I sat up in my bed, gripping my pillow tightly. We'd only been on the ship about a couple days, and I was the only one who hadn't been able to sleep both nights. Not sleeping was going to wipe me out eventually, but I figured that it was better than the dreams my mind would have come up with.

Leon had spent the last couple of days sparring with Stahn, trying to improve the blond's skills. Rutee kept saying it was pointless, that a country boy like him wouldn't remember, which always ended up turning into a vocal argument between the three.

I hadn't seen Phillia and Mary much, but that's because I wasn't really into exploring the ship. Leon seemed to be avoiding me too, but it's not like he had a reason to say anything to me. I sighed, burying my face in my pillow.

Boy I wish I could get some sleep...

"Erica."

My head snapped up at the voice, not having heard the door open. I smiled when I saw Leon, but that faded quickly when I spotted the serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, watching him shut the door behind him. His cape was missing, as was Chaltier, so I looked down at my – still working – watch to see the time.

"It's four in the morning, what's up?" I asked, looking back up at him. His eyes narrowed, pulling his look into a light glare which made me flinch.

"Leon...?"

"Exactly how much _do _you know?" he asked harshly, slightly scaring me. I was really bad at reading people, but just from knowing his character somewhat, I think I knew why he was worried about my knowledge. Thank god I was good at lying, because I'd need it right now.

"I don't know what's going to happen when we retrieve the Eye of Atamoni, if that's what you're worried about." Crap, I hadn't meant to sound that... harsh? Cold? I have no idea.

Leon watched me for a moment, not really seeming to believe me. I somehow found the strength to keep my face neutral, which is usually impossible for me. If anyone else was staring at me, I'd bust up laughing. I can't help it, I laugh when I'm being stared at.

Without another word, Leon turned and left my room, shutting the door quietly. I slumped into my pillow with a weak laugh.

"I thought I was in trouble there for a moment... He's probably going to be more careful of me now... Man..."

I got up and pulled one of the smaller blankets around my shoulders before heading up onto the deck. The fresh air was nice, but it was freaking cold.

"Remind me not to go on boat trips when I get home..." I muttered, leaning my arms on the side of the boat, just watching the ocean.

I shook my head and sat down, putting my back against the wood and wrapping the blanket around me better. Before it could reach my mind what I was doing, my eyes drooped closed and I passed out.

-x-

My back hurt really bad when I woke up, which made me whimper a little in pain and try to straighten myself up enough to pop my back. Once my back was popped, I looked around the ship from where I was sitting.

Crew members were bustling about the ship, and it was bright daylight out, meaning I'd slept a while. I yawned and stretched, finally allowing my mind to wake up.

"Erica-san?"

I looked up, frozen in half-stretch with my arms still in the air. Phillia stood there with a quizzical look on her face which made me laugh nervously and put my arms down.

"Yeah? Sorry, just kinda woke up."

She nodded, waiting for me to get to my feet before speaking. "Back at the cathedral... what was Leon-san talking to you about?" she asked timidly. I stared at her, clutching the thin blanket in my arms out of surprise.

I truthfully had no idea how to answer that. I hadn't even realized that the others had been paying attention.

"I was telling her not to be a nuisance. She may be the enemy's secret weapon in their eyes, but here she's just a normal girl. So I was making sure she understood to not get in our way" Leon spoke up, standing a little off to the side. I'd jumped a little when he had spoken at first, not expecting him to come to my rescue. I mean... wasn't he mad at me or something for possibly knowing too much?

Phillia nodded. "Thank you Leon-san. Come on," she said to me, pulling me to the other side of the ship and out of Leon's hearing range.

"Is there something else you wanted?" I asked, feeling nervous again. She shrugged a little, shaking her head.

"No. I just felt like talking to you. Besides, I didn't want you to feel like you've got nothing to do here like I did at first," she explained, smiling at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're... not suspicious of me?"

Phillia giggled at this. "The only two who are suspicious of you is Leon-san and Rutee-san. Stahn-san's following their lead because he doesn't want to seem like he doesn't know what he's doing."

This time I laughed. "Probably doesn't want his ego crushed again by the two biggest egos here," I added, throwing us into a small giggle-fit.

"What's this about ego's?"

We both turned around to see Mary standing there. She was grinning at us, probably because she'd heard. I grinned back.

"So, you two don't think I'm here to ruin everything?"

Mary laughed. "No, we never thought that. Rutee doesn't really want a chance that her reward might be taken away. It's one of the reasons she wanted to bring you along, especially since the bad guys wanted you so much it seemed. She'll come around."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "That just leaves Leon. And I've already got him mad at me."

Mary and Phillia looked at each other, probably completely confused at my words.

"Why don't you try talking to him?" Mary suggested. "I mean, it couldn't go too wrong, could it?"

I looked at her like she'd grown another head. "Did I just hear you correctly? Try and explain things to the most stubborn and least trusting guy on this ship? Besides the fact that he worries about stupid things..." I grumbled.

"Like what?" Phillia asked. I shook my head.

"I can't really explain. I don't really understand it myself. As it is, he won't tell me why he's mad," I replied, folding my arms and looking over my shoulder at the ocean.

It was true, in any other circumstance, I wouldn't know why Leon was so worried. He's not exactly one to voice his problems or feeling to people either.

I looked at my feet, lost in thought. Truthfully, I was scared to bring it up, the real reason why he was worried about how much I knew. Right now, I didn't want to hear anything about certain things.

"I wonder if he misses Marian-san."

My heart jumped into my throat at the mention of that name. I bit my lip to calm down then looked up, fighting to keep my face neutral.

"Who's that, Phillia?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't sound shaky.

"Right, you weren't here when we met her. She's a maid at Hugo's mansion," Mary replied. "She seemed to know Leon really well, and I think she's seen a lighter side of Leon from how close they seemed. I wouldn't be surprised if he's ever smiled around her."

I couldn't help it, I had to look away from them. Half of me wanted to know Marian, cause I was sure she was the type to be friends with everybody. The other half...

The other half wanted to stay as far from her as possible.

"Erica-san?" Phillia asked, trying to look at my face. I turned away from her, which brought a confused sound from her.

"Sorry, but I need some fresh air..." I mumbled, rushing away from them.

Mary and Phillia stood there, the orange haired woman getting a thoughtful look on her face.

"But we're already outside..."

I stood at the back of the ship, gasping a little. It sucked to know I had no stamina to speak of, but this ship was also huge. My hands gripped the wood while my head hung so my hair fell over my shoulders, hiding my face.

It had surprised me, for them to bring Marian up of all things. My chest tightened the more I thought about it. I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"I need to pull myself together... Where the heck did my self-control go?" I half-yelled to the ocean, gripping the wood tighter.

Leon... He cared about what would happen to Marian if I knew about what would happen. It's why I had lied. If he knew that I knew what would happen later on, then I'd have absolutely no chance to become friends with him.

_It's not just friendship..._ my mind corrected me. I laughed bitterly, lowering myself to sit on my knees.

_But that's where it has to stay. It's not something I can EVER tell him._

"Are you alright?" a voice spoke from behind me suddenly.

"AH!" I yelped, turning around quickly and jumping to my feet. Stahn straightened up with a surprised look on his face.

"Erica? What were you doing back here?"

I laughed nervously, my heart in my throat from being so startled. "Ah... um... I..." I silently cursed my inability to speak. Especially the fact I had no excuse for why I was back here.

"_Maybe she was getting away from the crowd?"_ I heard Dymlos offer to Stahn. He thought for a moment.

"Getting away from everybody?" he asked me, making it seem like Dymlos wasn't even there. In a normal situation, I would have laughed, but they didn't know I could hear them.

"...Yeah... What about you?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, Phillia and Mary were worried about you when you ran off and asked me to find you."

I blinked, startled again. "They... were worried?"

Stahn nodded. "They told me that you looked upset when they mentioned Marian-san."

I flinched, feeling ice run down my spine. I looked away from him, sure that my face looked dark.

"_Oh~ This is interesting..." _Dymlos said, sounding amused. I twitched, feeling angry all of the sudden.

I looked at Stahn with a glare, which made him twitch a little. Suddenly, I didn't care about them knowing that I could hear, I just wanted him to stop analyzing my emotions.

"And if it is? I won't let you make whatever you want of what you think is going on in my head, Swordian."

Stahn's eyes widened, his hand instantly going to his sword in a protective fashion.

"Y-you... Can hear him?"

I didn't respond, instead glaring at the sword on his hip. After a moment, a transparent blue haired man appeared next to Stahn, who I then switched my glare to.

Dymlos crossed his arms, watching me carefully.

"_When did you begin to hear us?"_ he asked me directly, not even trying to speak through Stahn now.

"Since I first saw you guys. I heard Phillia's sword first."

"_Erica!"_ Chaltier called out as he and Leon ran up. I only glanced at them, still irritated at Dymlos.

Leon looked at me then at Dymlos, a look of surprise crossing his face briefly. Stahn looked at Chaltier with an equally surprised look.

"You know she can hear you?" he asked, making Chaltier flinch.

"_Ah... Um..."_ the silver haired man stuttered, not sure what to say.

"We found out by accident," Leon cut in, looking at me. He seemed surprised at my dark expression, but didn't ask about it.

"Why were you hiding it?" Stahn asked me, turning his gaze away from Leon.

I shrugged, suddenly really calm. "I didn't think you guys needed to know. Just keep this from Rutee and Phillia and their respective Swordians. I don't want you guys making a big fuss about it."

"_Don't you want to try and find out why you can hear us?"_ Dymlos asked, confused. I shrugged.

"I don't really care why. Now can you four _please_ leave me alone?" I snapped, glaring at them. Chaltier flinched slightly.

"_Erica..."_ he mumbled, probably not sure how to handle me right now. I looked away from them, my conscience catching up with me and making me feel bad about yelling at them.

"...Come on, Stahn. Let's let her get some space to herself," I heard Leon say.

"But...!"

"Leave it."

Stahn looked at me once more before following Leon back to the other side of the ship. I stood there until I couldn't hear them before I slumped against the wood of the ship with a shaky laugh.

"I wanted to be more natural and calm about this... but I'm acting like a brat... Dang it!" I yelled, slamming the side of my fist into the wood against my back. I slumped down into a sitting position and put one hand against my face.

"Heh... If I told anyone about this back home, I wonder if they'd think I was the one at fault? I'm just making the others uncomfortable and making them worry about me for no reason."

"_Erica...?"_

My head snapped up at Chaltier's voice, seeing the sword on the short crate beside me. I pulled him down and just stared at him, surprised.

"Chaltier... why are you.. here?"

"_Bo-chan left me here, letting me comfort you, maybe? Seeing as you seemed upset,"_ he mumbled, sounding a little confused himself at Leon's actions.

I laughed weakly. "I highly doubt that, Chaltier."

"_What did Dymlos say? He can be a little mean sometimes, but he means well..."_

I shook my head and just smiled a little. "It was my fault for overreacting. He was just watching my reactions a little too closely for my liking. Though, running away from Phillia and Mary wasn't a smart move either."

"_Why'd you run from them? Did they say something mean?"_

"No, it's not that. Just... they were talking about stuff I didn't like hearing."

"_Oh... Well... I won't pry, but if you want to talk to anyone I can listen. Bo-chan is a little stubborn, but you can talk to him too, considering he knows about where you come from originally" _Chaltier said. I smiled and hugged the sword in my arms, earning a surprised yelp from him.

"Thanks... Ah!" I yelped, looking up.

"_What? What is it?"_ Chaltier asked, startled. I giggled a little as a memory of a certain problem returned to my mind.

"We just might want to go check on Leon."

"_Huh? Why? Ah...! You can't mean..."_

I nodded, getting to my feet. "I have a feeling he will need our help," I told him, walking off to go find Leon.

I spotted everyone else on deck, but I couldn't see Leon anywhere. Walking over to Mary, I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh? Erica! You feeling better?" she asked. I nodded.

"Hey, have you seen Leon anywhere? I want to give his sword back to him."

"You have his sword? Odd... Um... I think he said something about going to his cabin and to not disturb him."

I nodded. "Thanks." I turned and walked to the door that would lead me blow deck. "That sounds like his problem has already shown itself..." I mumbled, giggling slightly as I tried to find Leon's room.

"_It's this one."_ Chaltier pointed out to me, stooping at a door down the hall. I lifted one hand and knocked at the door, earning a grumble in return.

"What? I told you guys not to bug- Erica?" Leon said as he opened to door. I studied his face, silently noting how pale he looked.

"I figured."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Figured _what_?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're seasick."

If Leon were a cat, I'm sure his fur would have stood on end with the dark look he gave me. He pulled me inside and shut the door before going to his bed and sitting down to calm his nerves.

"I should have known that you'd know about this, but it still irks me. Either way, did Chal help?"

I blinked. "Huh...?"

Leon glared at a random spot in the wall across the room. "You looked upset over whatever you and the idiot had been talking about. Since you seemed to take a liking to Chal, I figured he'd be able to cheer you up a little."

I stared at him, almost not quite believing my ears. He left Chaltier with me because he was concerned? I smiled a little, letting a small laugh escape without meaning to.

He looked up at me with a glare. "What are you laughing about?" he grumbled, just causing me to laugh more. I just shook my head.

"It's nothing, just relieved."

"About what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That you don't seem to hate me from possibly knowing too much..." I mumbled, suddenly extremely self-conscious. Leon sighed in aggravation.

"I'm irritated with you, yes. But I don't know where that thought would have taken a wrong turn in your head to make you think I hated you because of that. I'm not shallow-minded you know."

I waved my arms in front of me, panicked. "I didn't mean that! Um... I'm just saying that I'm glad that we can still talk and... um..."

Leon sighed and shook his head a little, but he winced then raised a hand to his head a moment after. I watched him, a little worried.

"You alright?" I asked quietly, not wanting to aggravate any headache he might have.

"No... Just don't feel well. The sooner we get there the better. Do you mind letting me get some sleep? I just need to rest a bit before trying to deal with the idiots."

I giggled a little while he laid down and then nodded. "Yeah, I'll let you sleep. You get better, kay?" I told him semi-sternly, which he just raised an eyebrow to.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get out," he mumbled, sounding exhausted. I smiled and set Chaltier on the desk in the room before leaving, shutting the door quietly behind me.

Truthfully, if I wouldn't have looked absolutely stupid, I would have whooped for joy. He didn't hate me! I should have known better that he wouldn't hate someone for something as simple as knowing too much, but with how tense it had been, I wasn't surprised that my mind instantly jumped to that conclusion before I could really think about it.

I glanced back at the door behind me then giggled, walking down the hallway and whistling to myself. For once since I arrived, I felt that everything would be okay. Felt that for at least a little while, I could put my worries out of my head and focus on getting to know the group I would be spending time with. Which would be really odd concerning that Rutee was more worried about how I'd affect her chances for more Gald than she was worried about how I might screw this all up.

I laughed to myself. _I'm really going to need to learn how to at least protect myself. Maybe I'll ask Mary to teach me. Leon teaching me would be too awkward and Stahn goes mainly by instinct I believe..._

Boy, was I looking forward to being on land again. Watching the ocean is great and all, but it has its limits.

* * *

**Sayako: Gawd, I keep giving Leon too much screen time... I promise that everyone will get more screen time as this story goes on! And also... I have a request of everyone. I can see that a lot of people are reading this, and I like that, but can a little more people review? It doesn't help to know people are reading this. It would be nice to hear your thoughts, even if you're just saying "good job" or something stupid like that. I'd rather if you were unique in your reviews, but not everyone can give "detailed" reviews. Believe me, I can't either. :)**

**Look forward to the next installment of Dreams vs. Reality!**

**I don't own Tales of Destiny. But you guys know this by now, so I'll stop saying it every chapter. :D**


	7. Arrivals and Meetings part 1

**Chapter 7 - Arrivals and Meetings part 1**

_Sayako Nightbringer_

* * *

It was hard to keep still and out of people's way as the boat pulled into the harbor. I bit my lip constantly to keep anything stupid from escaping my mouth. Not like I could help it, I was looking forward to being on land again. I could only take so much of the ocean.

Rutee eventually had enough of my hyper pacing and walked over to me. She slapped me upside the head and dragged me over to the other girls, where she plopped me down in a seated position and told me to stay still.

Apparently my pacing had made her dizzy... Whoops...

When the boat stopped, we had to wait for the cargo to be unloaded. Truthfully we could have gotten off the boat first, but we decided to let them unload first. Phillia looked out towards the town, taking in the sights.

"So this is Noischtat..." She mumbled. I got up to my feet so I could see, and grinned. The town looked humble enough, having a lot of trees probably added to that.

Stahn walked over to up, also looking at the town. "This is the area I grew up in." He informed us, making both me and Phillia look at him.

"Really?" I asked. Part of me was excited while the other took this information in. This meant it wasn't following the format I knew. So it was even more of a reason for me to keep my mouth shut.

Stahn nodded, but looked confused. I don't know what he was thinking, but he seemed to shake the thought off. "We should go after Greybum" he said, making sense for once. Okay that was mean.. but the man WAS kinda a blond.

Leon took that moment to join our little group, crossing his arms. "First we should go see Ilene" he said, sounding ever like the leader of this expedition.

At our three collective confused looks, Chaltier appeared to explain. "Ilene is the Oberon manager of the Fitzgald region."

We nodded, finally getting it. Dymlos appeared, which made me tense up. We still weren't on good terms ever since I blew up at him. "We might obtain clues there" he pointed out, thankfully ignoring me.

We were finally able to get off the boat so I took the chance to stretch my legs out a little now that I was on solid ground.

"So where is Ilene anyway?" Stahn asked, asking the question we were all thinking. Leon's eye twitched. Did he even know?

"She's... somewhere here in Noischtat" He said finally, glaring at the blond.

"Meaning you don't know exactly do you?" I asked, standing straight again.

"I didn't say that!" he snapped. "Follow me." He turned angrily and led us all into town, Rutee snickering quietly next to me. But I don't think it was about Leon's wounded pride.

Sure enough she rubbed her hands together in wicked glee. "The Eye of God... That thing is definitely worth more than 250,000 Gald..."

Atwight and I shared a look before the purple haired woman looked at Rutee worriedly. "I hope that's not what you are concerned with..."

I chuckled then frowned. Where had Mary gone? The orange haired woman was nowhere in sight.

"Hey guys? I'm gonna go look for Mary" I said, though nobody seemed to hear me over the conversations they were having with one another. Leon though glanced back at me and nodded. Though his look warned me not to get lost.

I stuck my tongue out at him then turned to go find Mary, wondering where in this large town she could be...

-x-

I ended up finding Mary at a cart of some sorts, paying the man for... ice cream?

Mary thanked the vendor, enjoying her little treat when she spotted me. "Ah, Erica!" She grinned and walked over to me, only to turn and bring me to the vendor.

"A vanilla for her please."

"Right away" The man said cheerily, turning to get my treat ready. I looked at Mary with a confused look.

"Mary... what is this?" I asked. She grinned, showing me hers.

"Ice Candy! It's really good." Mary replied, going back to munching on her candy while I took mine from the vendor. The orange haired woman took my arm and led me to a bench where we could sit down.

"Mary... The others are going to worry you know..." I mumbled, turning my attention to my candy. Dear god it was good... I couldn't really describe what it was like, but sort of like a popsicle of some sorts.

Mary shrugged, grinning. "A little time of us away from them won't hurt. Besides, you need to relax."

I looked at her. "What?"

"I noticed that you were a little tense. Feeling any better now that you're away from them?"

I was about to tell her that the whole idea was stupid and that we should head back, but... she was right. I HAD been tense. Rubbing my forehead, I finished off my treat before leaning back a little to stare at the blossoming trees.

"I do feel a little better. I'm just worried I guess."

Mary watched me with a small smile. "Something you can't tell me?"

I nodded, feeling bad that I was keeping one big lie, but I shoved that down. I lived with lies all the time, so this one was no different.

The woman smiled before standing up, pulling me to my feet. "Well, we should head back. Rutee will be worried, though she doesn't show it too well."

We walked back to the group – I still have no idea how Mary knew where they were – just as Rutee had noticed our disappearance.

"Where did you two go?" Rutee asked us, hands on her hips. Mary grinned at her friend and partner in crime happily.

"I wanted some Ice Candy!" she chirped. "Got Erica some since she'd never had it before."

Rutee huffed, turning away from us. "Well don't walk off by yourself!" she snapped, worried about her friend. Mary hadn't been joking.

"It was delicious... Wasn't it Erica?" I yelped at Mary's question and nodded, not really sure what else I COULD say.

Leon sighed for the umpteenth time today and crossed his arms. "Let's hurry and see Ilene."

I walked over to him, trying to keep my chuckles quiet. "Sorry about that. But try to relax a little? I think we all have pent up energy from being on a boat for a while" I said, not sure why I sounded like a parent for a second. I mentally shook the thought off in time to catch Leon's growl.

"They're all idiots. We're not here to goof off. Were here to find information about where the Eye of God was taken."

I opened my mouth to speak, but some laughing made me turn my head to see Stahn racing a little kid. I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. But dear _god_ it was funny! Stahn pushed both fists into the air, whooping with victory.

"I won!"

If Dymlos could smack Stahn upside the head he probably would have done so by now. "Don't do things like this!" he scolded. Stahn stuck his tongue out at him immaturely.

"Doesn't matter cuz I won!"

They glared at each other before turning away with a huff, and that made me laugh out loud.

* * *

**Sayako: Holy crap. I am so sorry it's taken me this long! I know this is short, but over the months my writing style has changed and I'm going to be introducing my sub-plot in part two of this chapter. It's going to be interesting trying to pull that off when I can hardly reach KiKiDai lately... but I'll try my best!**


	8. Arrivals and Meetings part 2

**Chapter 7: Arrivals and Meetings part 2**

_Sayako Nightbringer_

* * *

The walk to Ilene's house was more or less quiet. I was fine with watching the group chatter amongst themselves, still unsure of how I fitted into all of this. My hand lifted to touch the necklace around my neck, slightly surprised to still feel it there. The shock from being dragged into this world had caused me to forget all about it. I watched Leon as my fingers brushed the necklace, frowning when I didn't get a response. Had the necklace shorted by bringing me here? Or did my close proximity to Leon mean it no longer needed to connect our minds?

I shook the thought away as we approached a very nice house. Obviously whoever lived here lived well. Leon stepped up to the door, knocking sharply. A minute or two passed before a maid opened the door, bowing respectively before looking at our party strangely.

"Who might you all be?" she asked politely. Her eyes scanned our group – briefly resting on me in confusion – before looking at Leon. "Maybe... Are you Leon Magnus-sama and his compatriots?"

I raised an eyebrow at the long word before remembering that speech was a bit different here. After all, they seemed to still be using the suffix's even though they were speaking English. Or maybe I was hearing all this in English when in fact they were actually speaking Japanese? I had no idea.

Leon cut off my train of thought by speaking. "Yes. Is Ilene here?" He gave no reaction to Dymlos commenting about it being wise to gather information; we were here for that anyway. The maid frowned softly.

"The Lady has stepped out for a moment; she should be back shortly." She explained to us. Leon nodded again, though it gave me no idea what he thought of the fact that we now had to wait for the woman to return.

"Allow us to wait here" He said, not really asking so much as demanding. Polite demand, but still demanding. The maid smiled softly, paying no mind to this. It was her job to accept things like this I guess.

"Certainly" She replied, stepping aside to let up into the living room. Or main room? I have no idea what all the rooms were called. This was higher class than I was back home. Though I didn't have any experience with the social classes anyway, unless you counted high school cliques.

I watched everyone spread out to either find seating or to the walls to inspect the other items in the room. Not that there were that many, but enough to feel like the place was owned by a person who had a good living. My gaze turned to the maid, who bowed and left after saying she'd inform us when her Lady had come home.

Stahn walked over to me, touching my shoulder. "Hey... can I talk to you for a sec?" He looked nervous about something, so I followed him out into the hallway. He rubbed the back of his head, sighing.

"Look... about what Dymlos said..."

I smiled and shook my head, realizing what was bothering him. "Don't worry about it Stahn. I just get defensive when people read into my emotions. It was wrong of me to snap at you both and for that I apologize."

The blond grinned. "Oh good! I was worried that he had upset you. Well, he had, but that's not what I meant. I just didn't want you two to stay on bad terms. He can be a nag, but he means well."

"I can think of several people in our group who are nags. So there's no big problem with that. Just let him know not to read into my emotions so much. Or if he does, tell him to keep his mouth shut." I told him, smiling. Stahn nodded eagerly, looking every bit as friendly as I knew from Tales of the World.

"I'll let him know. Thanks for listening Erica!" he said before walking back into the room. I lingered there for a moment longer, not really sure what to do to pass the time. With a sigh, I walked back into the room, my thoughts drifting back to my necklace. Why had it brought me here? I was still suspicious of it since I'd found it in a dream, but some part of me thanked it. After all, I'd always dreamed of coming here.

_Wait... Dreams?_ I thought, finding an unoccupied chair and sitting down. The necklace I'd found in a dream, bringing me to a place I've dreamed the most about. Maybe there was a connection? Either that or I was finally going crazy from all the talk of wanting to travel to other worlds with Angel. I was still going to run it past Leon to see what he thought about it however. If we could figure out how I got here, then we might have a way to send me home when this was over.

No way in hell was I leaving before this was over though. This necklace had given me something I'd been wishing for, so there was no way I was passing this chance up. I giggled softly when I thought of how Angel would react to my grand adventure, knowing that she had wanted world travel much more than I did. There would definitely be a retelling of all this to my friend when I got home.

I touched the necklace gently, hoping that with all my worry about what this necklace was for, it was just me being paranoid. After all, I was no fighter. I knew I'd have to learn to defend myself, but I wasn't going to go on a tangent of becoming stronger for any purposes other then getting through this game alive. Though really... this wasn't a game anymore was it...

Rutee stopped her pacing across the room, catching my attention and pulling me out of my thoughts. She looked frustrated, most likely bored from waiting. "...Ilene is pretty late. What in the world is she doing?" she grumbled. After a moment she turned her attention to her best friend. "Mary, where did you get that Ice Candy?"

The orange haired woman shrugged, smiling. "From a shop in town." She replied calmly. Though she looked eager to go get more. Rutee nodded and crossed her arms, looking around at everyone before back at Mary.

"I want to go get some; I'm tired of waiting." She said, complaining just a little. Mary chucked at her best friend, nodding.

"Lets go together."

Stahn perked up at this, glad for an idea of what to do while they all waited. "Me too; I've never had any." He said, standing from his sitting position on one of the other couches. He glanced over at Phillia who nodded in agreement.

"I will come too." She said softly, joining the group as they figured out who wanted to go. Her gaze settled on me while Stahn talked to Leon about what he wanted to do. "Erica-san... do you want to come with us?"

I shook my head, smiling a little. "No thanks Phillia. Thanks for the offer though. I think I'll stay here." I told her, catching Stahn's gaze as he nodded.

"So the two of you will wait for Ilene to come home?" The blond asked, earning a nod from both Leon and I. He grinned, looking to the rest of the group who was going with him. "Alright! Let's go!" He led the group out of the house, leaving me with the ever quiet Leon.

He stood after a moment and headed somewhere else in the house. I didn't follow him at first, nervous about stalking him around like I seemed to be doing. But after five minutes of silence and my mind wandering in circles about my necklace, I stood to go track Leon down. The teen was in the back yard, training with Chal. I was surprised to find him with his cape off, since the only time he seemed to take it off was when he was alone and about to go to bed (I only knew this from the boat trip).

For a few minutes I just watched, slightly memorized by the amount of effort and calculation I could see in each strike as he fought against his invisible enemy. His hair at his neck was plastered to his skin from the heat, which I was curious as to how he handled it so well. I was always at a colder temperature by nature, yet even this heat was starting to bug me. I looked at my jeans and my long sleeved shirt – the sleeves of which I had rolled up to my elbows – and my vest on top of that. It was colder back home, and only in mid July (usually) did it get this hot. My gaze returned to Leon, watching with some envy at his ability to fight. I was dead weight right now until we figured out why the necklace wanted me here. Or why I was called here...

"What are you doing?"

I jumped at his voice, blinking and realizing that not only had he noticed me, but he had started staring back at me. A weak laugh escaped me, more nervous than anything else. "Ah.. I was gonna ask you something... but then I forgot..."

Leon rolled his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck and his face with a towel that the maid from earlier had provided. "Idiot." He muttered, moving to sheath Chal, but then stopping as an idea seemed to form in his head. His violet eyes turned to me with a calculating look. "Can you fight?"

For a moment my mind didn't register what he had said, but then I gaped at him. "You think I would have sat in one place and let that wolf jump at me back when I first arrived if I could?" I asked, slightly wondering if he had gone crazy. He shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"I just thought I'd ask. You never know if it was just shock at being in a new place. Anyway, if you stay as you are you're going to get yourself killed. I can teach you the basics and give you the ability to stay alive those few seconds longer so the rest of us can get to you." Leon explained, walking over to me with Chal. He looked over my clothes for a moment, frowning. He didn't ask about the hot weather, just shrugged. "You'll want to take that vest off. I'll go get another sword." He said before he walked away from me.

I stared after him for a few more moments before shrugging out of the vest, curious as to why he suddenly wanted to teach me. Though I had to admit, his reason was valid. I could get killed here quite easily without training of some kind. I didn't like the thought of still having to rely on the group for my safety, but he never said anything about not training to get good enough to fight my share. I nodded to myself, swearing that I was not going to drag this team down any further.

It was then that Leon came back with a second sword. Chal was sheathed – for now I was guessing – while he walked over to me and handed the clean blade over. I looked at it, surprised that the blade hadn't gone plummeting into the dirt at my feet. In fact, it seemed perfect for me to hold. "Where did you get this?" I asked, looking at him. He scowled at me before answering.

"I got one from a sword shop nearby. There weren't any here so I had to go get you one. But this is only for your safety you got it? I told your mother I'd bring you home, and that's exactly what I'm going to do." He said firmly, leaving me no room to guess at his intentions. Though the faint nervous blush I could see made me smile a little. I understood that this was so I could get home, but it was nice to know he was taking the time to make my stay a little more survivable. Even though he had no real idea how to be nice to people.

"Alright." I said calmly, looking at the sword. It still felt awkward in my hands, since I was almost sure I was holding it wrong. A pair of calloused hands covered mine, shifting my grip so the sword felt more comfortable in my hold. Though my mind was nowhere near comfortable right now.

Leon had his arms around me, having me mimic his stance so he could guide me without needing to see everything backwards. "Hold it like that, not too tight or you'll hurt yourself. There we go. Come on, follow my movements.." He said, his voice calm but firm as he led me into a slow horizontal slash. I struggled to keep my focus on what he was showing me, going through a few strokes before he stepped away from behind me to move directly in front of me. "Alright, now I want you to do that again, but attack me. I'll show you how to block those attacks so then you can try guarding." I bit my lip as he drew Chal again, spotting the spirit and earning an encouraging smile from him. Nodding at the silver haired man, I attacked Leon without much force. I had no stamina so trying to put too much effort into this on a hot day would exhaust me.

Leon easily blocked my strikes, frowning. "Put more effort into it. You won't get better with halfhearted moves. Things like that will get you killed, idiot."

I glared at him, putting more force into my next swing, growling when he blocked it. "Better. Again!"

We kept at it for quite some time – not that I was paying too much attention to time for once – before switching tactics, so suddenly I was the one defending. This was more difficult, because I could feel the restrained force behind each of Leon's attacks. He wasn't going easy on me just because I was new to this, he seemed to honestly think I could do it. So with that thought in mind, I started trying to deflect his attacks to be able to attack him. Not that that went well, considering I ended up on my backside more than once from stupid moves that he just knocked me back after.

I lay gasping on my side after who knows how long, my hands burning from every strong clash of Leon's blade against mine. Leon stood off to the side, but I couldn't see what he was doing since my hair had fallen in my face. He'd told me earlier that only an hour had gone past. Not that I really believed him. It felt like much longer than that, though the sun hadn't moved very far in the sky, so I had no choice but to believe him. I rolled onto my back, pushing my hair out of my face so I could stare at the nearby trees. I had to go back inside soon or I'd melt from the heat.

"Oi."

I looked up at Leon – hard not to when he's standing right above me – feeling quite confused. "What is it?" I asked. He stared at me for a few moments before sighing and holding out his hand to me. His gaze was somewhere else, and I could almost hear his complaints at doing this, but I was still touched by it.

"You did well for a beginner according to Chal. Now get up. I'm sick of this heat."

I giggled, ignoring his glare while I took his hand to allow him to pull me to my feet. He walked inside before me, leaving me to watch him go. There was no reason for him to give me this, but he had. I smiled slightly, keeping myself from deluding myself into seeing something that wasn't there. He was doing this to keep me alive. It made a lot of sense for him to do this considering that I'd fallen into a dangerous world. I'm not an active person, but during this adventure I'd have to be. Who knows if I'd have to kill here. I didn't know what lurked in this world to stop us from reaching our goal, but I would be forced to kill if it came down to my life or another person's life.

Biting my lip, I made my way inside to find one of the maids. I seriously needed a bath or something from training so long. One of the maids spotted me and helped me find one of the bathrooms so I could take a hot bath. The hot water felt like heaven on my sore body, especially on the blisters on my hands. I stared at the water, sighing softly. From what Leon had said he'd only be giving me this one piece of training that I'd have to keep practicing on. But I knew that wouldn't be enough. _I'll have to ask someone else to help train me the rest of the way to be able to fight alongside them. I can't leave myself at a stage where they always have to save me. That will get them killed one of these days._

I washed up and got out of the bath quickly, changing into clean clothes that had been left for me after a moment of at myself in a mirror to check my appearance, I could see a dark green shirt that cut off at my shoulders, black pants that were a little more form-fitting than my old ones, a white belt, black boots to tuck my pants into, and long black fingerless gloves with green and white arm guards. I glared at the arm guards, knowing that Leon must have grabbed these for me. I had bad blocking skills, so he had once mentioned that one day my arms would get cut off. Just like him to get me these to mock me...

There was also a green and white chest armor sitting on the chair which I hadn't put on. It was thin, but I wasn't sure how heavy or how strong it was. Knowing Leon's keen eye it was most likely good, but I had no experience with armor. I was surprised that I'd been able to put on the arm guards. My gaze drifted to my dragon necklace and the sword at my left hip. He'd even gotten a better chain for my dragon pendant, so it didn't hang down as low as it used to and it was much less breakable. I adjusted the small packs that I had attached to my belt, smiling a little. My old clothes had been packed away after being cleaned, so I'd have them with me, but I wouldn't get them ruined by battles.

I walked downstairs, eager to show Leon how the outfit looked, but fell silent when I entered the main room. Leon was sitting on one of the single chairs, but he had fallen asleep. There was no way that I could bring myself to wake him up, so I decided to curl up on one of the chairs to relax. My eyes closed after a few moments, my mind wandering to the music I'd been listening to before I'd been brought here. Thankfully I always carried my music around, but I wouldn't be allowed to listen to it here. So instead I kept it stashed away so nothing would damage my MP3 player. I yawned quietly, curling up tighter to rest my head on the arm of the chair, falling asleep quickly from how exhausted I was.

-x-

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder, which startled me a bit into sitting up quickly. This however caused me to smack my forehead against whoever had tried to wake me up, both of us yelping in pain. I rubbed my sore forehead and worked my eyes open, blushing when I saw Leon standing there, rubbing his own forehead and glaring at me.

"You going to wake up now? It's too hot here so I'm going out for a bit. Chal wanted to know if you wanted to come along." He grumbled, lowering his hand so he could cross his arms. Chaltier appeared by Leon's side, smiling softly.

"What he means is he's going out for Ice Candy. The maid here said she'd let Ilene know that we were here." Chal explained, looking happy to be getting out of the house. Poor spirit was probably bored. So I nodded at him, stretching and moving to stand.

"Yeah I'll go along. If we run into Stahn and the others, I need to ask either him or Mary how to put on the stupid chest armor. I can't figure it out." I said, following Leon and Chal out of the house. Chal didn't stay silent for too long, his eagerness getting the better of him.

"Young master, young master." Chal moved from shoulder to shoulder, trying to get Leon's attention. And attention he got. Leon sighed and watched him absently, most likely used to this behavior by now, but still too tired to really get irritated st the silver haired spirit.

"What is it?" He grumbled after a moment of watching Chal's antics. "You're so loud." Chal grinned and moved over by me, bringing Leon and I to a halt while we watched him.

"I wonder what ice candy tastes like! It sounds good!" He said happily, already off in his own little world while he contemplated what the treat tasted like. Leon watched Chal quietly, his eyes almost looking a little sad at whatever he was thinking of.

"Is that right..." Leon muttered softly, his tone telling me that he didn't like that his close friend was stuck as a spirit. "Chal can't eat it."

Chaltier moved over to Leon, lifting a hand as if to ruffle the teen's hair, but only able to 'settle' his hand on his hair since he was unable to really touch him. "So, young master. If it's good, you and Erica have to tell me!"

Leon nodded after a moment, his composure stitched back together, leaving me surprised that I'd been allowed to see a slight glimpse at the friendship these two had. Let alone be mentioned in a moment that had been originally just theirs. "All right, we will." He moved his gaze over to me after Chal vanished back into the sword, serious again. "Let's go." I nodded and followed him, not sure if I should be surprised he knew the direction the vendor was in or not. A smile crossed my face, watching Leon's back. He really liked being around Chal, and I could tell he liked being around the others when they weren't being idiots. There was just the road block of having been someone that was forced to grow up too fast, then dealing with people who hadn't needed to do that for the most part. Rutee had been forced to grow up fast, but I wouldn't mention that. I was keeping these observations to myself for now.

It didn't take all that long to get to the vendor. The man smiled at me, waving lightly as we stepped up to him. "Welcome back! Want some Ice Candy for you and your friend here?" he asked cheerfully. I blushed and shook my head.

"I'm not getting any, but he is." I said, gesturing at Leon. The vendor nodded, turning his gaze to Leon.

"What flavor would you like sir?"

Leon stood there in silence, which turned my attention to him. The teen looked really uncomfortable while he looked at the list of flavors. I shared a look with the vendor, shrugging when he silently asked what was wrong with him.

"Sir?"

Leon still didn't say anything, which made me look at Chal who shrugged. The spirit moved over to me to whisper in my ear so Leon wouldn't hear and get embarrassed I bet. "He does this a lot. Doesn't like admitting that he wants something."

"Sir!"

This startled Leon into actually saying something, still looking uncomfortable. "Ah, no, it's not that I particularly want one..." he mumbled, looking close to fidgeting with something. Chal rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Bo-chan, stop being embarrassed and just buy one!"

The teen jumped slightly, blushing slightly as he fumbled over his words. He really didn't seem used to this, and it took all I had to not giggle at his discomfort. Since he reminded me so much of myself at the moment. "A-ahh... that's right. Excuse me... I'll have-"

"_**AAAAAAAAHHHH!"**_

Leon and I turned sharply, trying to look for the source of the scream. The vendor ducked down, hiding after stating that a monster was there, hovering over a girl who looked ready to pass out from fear. Leon, Chal, and I looked at each other, then back at the girl. "Bo-chan, let's help her!"

He didn't need to be told twice, but he looked at me sternly. "Stay here and protect him."

I shook my head. "I can help!" Besides, I wasn't about to get any better if I didn't fight. Leon didn't seem to agree with me, since he shook his head angrily.

"No!" Leon replied, not giving me any time to retort as he rushed at the monster, distracting it from the girl with a Stone Wall. The monster turned to him, forgetting the girl quickly and attacking. Leon dodged the attack easily, pulling Chal underneath him before slicing up through the monster while its guard was down, watching the creature fall backwards onto the ground with a heavy THUD. He stood there for a moment, making sure it wasn't about to get up again before looking at the girl behind him. She stared at him, shaking and blushing darkly despite the scary situation she'd just been in.

"T-Thank you!" she said nervously, allowing me to help her up before she followed some of the other townsfolk who were running. Chal noticed this and frowned, moving into Leon's field of vision to catch his attention.

"I'm worried about the state of the city. Let's go take a look." Leon and I glanced at each other, me glaring while he seemed reluctant.

"Do not go anywhere where I can't see you." He said sternly. I huffed at him but nodded, knowing I wouldn't get my way this time. We moved around the dead monster, running back to the heart of town. Once there, we stood in shock as people ran past us to get away from the monsters we could see running around. Leon caught one man by the arm, scaring the poor man until he realized that it was human instead of a monster. "Hey, you. What's going on?" Leon asked in a commanding tone, wanting to know the problem quickly so we could take care of it.

The man shivered and shook, looking scared half to death. "I-I don't know! All of a sudden, monsters started coming up out of the ocean!" he replied, shaking like he wanted to run as fast as he could instead of sit here talking.

"About how many of them?" Leon asked, his firm tone calming the man only slightly.

"Swarms!" The man replied without missing a beat, no longer shaking but not wanting to stay put any longer. Leon let him go, knowing he wouldn't run as he cursed under his breath.

"Dammit, where did Stahn and the others go? I won't be able to take care of this alone!" He hissed. I glared at him, my hands on my hips.

"_Excuse_ me? I CAN help you know!" I snapped at him. Leon glared at me, shaking his head, and already I knew that he wasn't about to listen. I sighed, ignoring Chal's soft laughter, which Leon quickly picked up on.

"What are you laughing about at a time like this, Chal?" Leon asked, feeling confused at the spirit's amusement. Even I was confused as to why he was laughing at a time like this. Chal shook his head, smirking slightly.

"Ah, no, that's right. I wonder where everyone went?" He said, though I could have sworn that he sing-songed that...

Leon shook his head, ignoring the crazy spirit. "Besides that, I'm worried about Elaine. It'd be good if she was safe, but..."

The man took this chance to speak up, nervous. "If you're talking about Ilene-san, I just saw with some people at coliseum." He muttered. Leon turned to him sharply, dead serious.

"Really?"

"Like I'd lie about that! Can I go, already?" The man snapped, dancing from foot from foot. Leon nodded, not bothering to watch as the man ran off with the other townsfolk. Chaltier apparently had decided to be serious again, because he moved over to Leon's side from mine. Though I don't know when he'd been at my side, since my mind was still trying to wrap around what the heck was going on.

"Do you think the people Ilene was with could be Stahn and the others?" He asked, watching Leon nod quietly. He looked at Chal, watching him.

"I hope that's the case. All right, let's go to the coliseum." He said, gripping my wrist and running again. I don't know why he did that, since it sent a lot of blood to my face, but I soon found out why as I felt my energy run out. With him holding onto me, it forced me to run with him instead of stop and become monster food. I wanted to grip onto his hand, but I knew it was safer for him to hold my wrist right now. We reached the coliseum in no time at all, getting there just in time to see Stahn shaking hands with some sort of fighter. I had no idea how to describe the man, but Leon quickly let me go to walk over to Stahn and the rest of our group. "What the hell are you all doing here!" he snapped, gaining the group's attention.

Stahn stared at Leon in surprise, walking over to meet the two of us half way. "Leon? The match is already over."

Leon groaned, looking ready to facepalm himself. "There is no time for this! The town has been swamped by monsters!" he snapped, startling the group and the strange fighter who had walked up next to Stahn.

"What was that?" Stahn and the fighter exclaimed in shock, glancing at each other in worry. The fighter looked at Leon, punching the palm of his other hand in frustration.

"Damn, just what has happened!" he growled, looking quite ready to fight. Dymlos appeared next to Stahn, sharing a look with the blond. Stahn nodded slightly, bringing our (Those who could see Dymlos) attention to the swordian spirit.

"We should go too."

Stahn's hands clenched into fists, looking serious. "Why are monsters here! Anyway lets check out the town!" He said to grab the attention of those who couldn't hear Dymlos. This way everyone was on the same track. We all glanced around at each other, nodding and heading to town after Leon strictly told me to stay with Ilene if we found her while we were in town. I honestly wanted to learn how to fight and pull my own weight, but I couldn't do that if I was stuck on guard duty. Or more accurately: Just standing there and defending from anything that gets past the others till someone else can kill it. It was irritating, but I kept quiet as we raced back to town.

* * *

**Sayako: Well... I got it done! Now my only problem is that my two scripts I'm using don't agree after this point. I don't have Stahn's side of the game so a lot of things are missing and I have no idea where to go. If anyone could help me figure out where to find the other side of the script I'd be most grateful! The Original game and the Remake have too many differences script-wise from what I see... So... Help (and reviews) are greatly wanted! *bows***


	9. Reality and Fights

**Chapter 8: Reality and Fights**

_Sayako Nightbringer_

* * *

It didn't take all that long for us all to get to town, even though I was still trying to calm the fire in my lungs from running so much. I gripped my knees, bent over and gasping for breath. There was a hand on my back for a brief moment as a gesture of support before it was gone. Finally able to stand properly, I looked up at the town where people were running either past us towards the coliseum or around away from the rampaging monsters. Vaguely I knew Stahn had walked towards someone telling people to go to the coliseum, but my legs had locked up in fear.

One man was running towards me, yelling at me to get out of the way. I only managed one half-step before he shoved me aside, my body crashing to the ground heavily. He glared at me, his eyes wild with fear. "I said move you brat!" he snapped. A large beast stepped up behind him, snarling loud enough that he turned towards it.

I wanted to scream at him to run, fight the thing off, _something_. Instead my body stayed locked up, paralyzed as I leaned on my elbows, watching this beast advance on us both. The man shook visibly, laughing shrilly. "I'm not about to die here!" he screamed at the thing, almost as if that would change his fate. He took off to my left, my gaze following him and my heart racing with the scream stuck in my body for him to go faster, to get away safely.

The beast saw this as a game and took off after him, only needing two long bounds before the large bloodstained maw had the man by the neck, yanking him back onto the ground and tearing into his flesh. Blood gushed everywhere, almost going in slow-motion as my mind tried to comprehend what was going on. I sat up slowly, my hands going up to my hair and gripping it tightly.

It was then that I screamed, my eyes shut and every ounce of fear escaping me through my vocal chords. I barely felt the rush of heat from flames scorching the beast, or the rumble from the ground as other powers tore through the other rampaging monsters, too caught up in my own overwhelming hysteria.

Hands gripped my arms and tugged me to my feet, shaking me. I opened my own wild eyes, staring into Stahn's own as he tried to talk to me. For a moment it was all garbled, but then he clamped his hand over my mouth, shutting me up.

"Erica! Calm down! You're okay, it's gone!" He spoke sharply, the calm in his voice reaching through my system and finally breaking whatever hold the fear had on me. Someone was petting my hair, causing me to glance to my left where I saw Mary. The others along with a new woman were also watching with varied levels of concern.

My eyes searched until they caught Leon's violet ones. He looked concerned, but I couldn't tell why. All I wanted as some sort of confirmation that what I had seen was just a nightmare. That the man really hadn't died. I knew it was impossible, but anything to get that image of all the blood and the tearing skin...

He walked over to me, holding my gaze. "Put it out of your mind. Now is not the time to be weak." He spoke harshly. I knew he was right, but my body flinched anyway. The last thing I wanted was to remind everyone how helpless and new to this I was, and I had just done so. Being seen as weak was something I fought with every fiber of my being. I hated to be seen as the weak one, yet for some reason I always ended up feeling that way. Leon sighed, his gaze and tone softening. "It gets easier with time, but keep close until you can keep the reactions for a safer time."

I stared at him, nearly gawking. So THAT was why he refused to fully train me? Because he knew I was unprepared mentally? Self defense to buy everyone time to get to me wasn't because he didn't think I could, but because I couldn't yet handle killing. I felt relieved somewhat, the gruesome scene finally fading from the forefront of my mind. It still lingered behind my vision, but I had a much stronger grasp of myself and was able to step away from Stahn's grip.

"I will. Thank you Leon." I replied, earning a nod from him in return. He turned towards the other woman with us, speaking to her for a moment too quietly for me to hear over the other screaming townspeople. She ran ahead of us to the coliseum while everyone took care of the monsters that followed her.

I could barely watch, my stomach flip-flopping at the blood-shed we caused on our way to the coliseum. Stahn stayed near me, his flames burning the beasts to a crisp and sparing me the sight of more blood. Only ash remained of the creatures that came my way. Some small part of me felt sorry for the creatures, but the bigger part – the part of me that's been there for years – told me to save my sentiments for later. I was best at bottling things away that I didn't like, and I had to drag up those old skills now.

It was then that I felt ready to draw the sword at my hip, knowing Stahn couldn't always keep an eye on me. I had to fight back instead of running like a scared child. My heart was pounding as my sword scraped against the scabbard as I drew it out, my arms shaking. The scratchy sound caught the attention of a large wolf, identical to the one that had scared me earlier. I bit my lip, thinking back to Leon's training, however brief it had been.

The wolf didn't give me much time to think, charging at me – the weak link in the party – with claws outstretched and fangs bared. I took a step back then jumped out of the way, yelping. _I can't do this I can't do this...!_ I thought frantically, taking all of my effort into staying out of the wolf's way. It caught on to me quickly, digging its claws into the ground and turning swiftly and snapping at me. I nearly screamed as I saw the wolf's open maw in front of me, doing the only thing I could think of: holding my sword up with the blade braced against my arm guards.

I must have moved just in time, the blade cutting into the wolf's mouth as its momentum caused the blade to dig into the tender skin. The beast backed off, howling in pain for a few brief moments, giving me time to get to my feet. After it licked the bleeding cuts, it turned and snarled dangerously at me. I glanced at the others, panicking when I noticed that other monsters had their attention off me. Another snarl brought my attention back to the wolf just in time to see it lunge at me. As a reflex I stepped back, tripping over an upraised cobblestone and falling backwards, watching the wolf's larger form appear over mine. I brought my sword up, shutting my eyes and fearing for the worst.

The sound of pierced flesh was my only warning as a large body fell on mine, the hilt of my sword digging into my chest as I hadn't been able to put the chest guard on yet. Something warm seeped onto my hands and my clothes, my eyes working themselves open only to scream at what I saw.

On top of me was the large wolf, dead and bleeding all over me. I struggled, managing to roll it off me and scramble a few inches away from it. My eyes never left the open dead eyes of the beast, watching the blood pool on the ground beneath it and soaking into my pants. A slight stinging from my arms made me look down, seeing where the claws had caught me before I had run the wolf through. I shook, my stomach turning uneasily the longer I stared. Shakily, I got to my feet, pulling my sword free with another sickening sound.

By this time Stahn had made his way over to me, looking me over with a worried expression. "Are you alright? I heard you scr- Whoa." He said, staring down at the wolf then back at me. "You killed it?" He asked softly, searching my face. I shook more, nodding weakly since I didn't trust my voice. Stahn nodded and walked over to me, grabbing my arm. "Come on, we gotta catch up to Ilene."

I nodded, following him as we ran after the rest of our party. Stahn kept Dymlos out, incinerating anything that came my way because of the blood that was drying on my clothes. In this way, it didn't take us long to get to the coliseum, which I was thankful for up until I saw what we had to deal with. It was huge, some sort of beast that I couldn't describe, as I'd never seen it before. I trembled, raising my sword a little. Stahn shook his head, grabbing my sword carefully and lowering it. "You get to Ilene and the other townspeople, we'll handle this. You've seen enough today." I didn't argue, my flipping stomach agreeing with him before I could say anything. He was right, I HAD seen enough for now, the images of the man and the wolf causing my legs to shake in fear. I turned and ran over to Ilene as the others drew the monster away, kneeling down.

"Are you all okay?" I asked. Ilene looked at me wearily and nodded, looking a little battered herself, but not much.

"Yes, we're all fine. Your friends got to us in time." She took this moment to look me over. "You're absolutely COVERED in blood! What happened?" she asked, sitting me down and wrapping the cuts on my arms from the wolf. I looked down, the memory coming back too easily for my liking. She noticed the uneasy look on my face, shaking her head. "Alright then, I won't ask. But do tell me, since when has young Leon known you?" she asked softly, watching me gently. A blush crossed my face, not sure how much I could really say.

"W-well..."

"Get out of the way!" I suddenly heard someone shout behind me. The call made me turn to see what was wrong, only to see the large beast coming towards me, leaving a lot of blood behind. My eyes widened as I scrambled to my feet, holding up my sword.

"Dammit get out of the way!" Rutee shouted at me. I shook my head, my stance firm. There was no way that I was going to leave Ilene and the others just to save my own hide. I ignored the looks from the others, holding my ground. The beast's claw came up, but before it could come down at me a spike of earth shot out of the ground and impaled the beast's weak underbelly. It roared in pain as the sickening sound of tearing flesh sounded across the coliseum, deep red blood splattering to the ground not too far from me, causing my stomach to turn uncomfortably again at the coppery smell.

Leon walked over to me, grabbing me by the front of my shirt, looking furious. "Why didn't you move?" he snapped at me angrily, making me flinch as far away as his grip on my shirt would allow.

"I-I... I-I couldn't leave Ilene and the others there to stay in its path..." I whimpered, not taking his anger well. He shook his head, his violet eyes bright with his anger. All I could catch were nervous glimpses at his eyes, unable to stare at him long enough to try to figure out why he was mad.

"We couldn't attack while it was running at you and the others! You're covered in wolf blood, it was after _YOU_!" he hissed. I flinched again, shutting my eyes tightly while I felt someone pry Leon away from me. One of the women pulled me close, petting my head while I shook, taking all of my strength to try and not break down. I hated being yelled at, especially people I wanted to think of as friends, but any anger in general usually made me cry when I couldn't defend myself.

Once again I felt like I'd disappointed the group, and that was frustrating me more than anything. I felt the person holding me speak, breaking through my thoughts.

"You know, he's just worried about you." I heard Mary say, telling me who was holding me. A grimace crossed my face, followed closely by my disbelief in her statement.

"That didn't sound like what worry sounds like..." I grumble out harsher than I meant to.

"Hey now, you know him. That kid can't get anything across properly with that stuffy attitude of his." She said soothingly. "Come on, we should follow the others."

"Follow them where?" I asked, looking away childishly. She smiled at me and took my head. "To the port. We gotta catch up with Greybum.." Mary explained, tugging me along as we ran after the others. I whined softly, not really liking the idea of getting on another boat. My complaints were ignored by the orange haired woman as we walked onto the boat after the others. Seeing Leon's back, I shut up instantly, suddenly finding my boots really interesting.

"Wait!"

We all turned to see the fighter from the coliseum run up to Stahn. The blond gasped, his eyes wide. "Kongman? What are you doing here?"

The bald fighter grinned, looking proud. "I'm here to come with you of course!" Stahn stared at him for a moment, before the man's grin became infectious and he started grinning as well. Kongman continued. "You must protect people whenever you can. Ilene tried hard; I must as well."

Stahn nodded, holding his hand out. "Got it; let's fight together!" Kongman nodded and grasped the blond's hand firmly, smiling. I looked away, walking towards the other side of the ship.

We had a new party member, and we once again were on a boat to who-knows-where, but now I was further losing what little I knew of this place. I didn't know the fighter from anything other than pictures, which meant I knew less than I thought I had. My heart thudded from the adrenaline that had been rushing through me for the past few hours, and from the fear that still gripped me. Leon was mad at me, and I had no idea how I was going to repair things. I knew that I still wanted to fight, but part of me was worried for the fragile friendship I'd been building with the dark teen. In my heart I knew that I'd just have to either confront him about it or wait for him to come to me, and somehow I had a feeling that the latter wouldn't be happening any time soon, which meant my only option was the former.

"This is going to be a long boat trip..." I whispered to the wind as the boat set sail, closing my eyes and trying to enjoy the late evening breeze.

* * *

**Sayako: Oh geez this took a long time! I'm so sorry about my long absence for any of you willing to put up with the long wait... I got severe writers block since I REALLY don't have any clue as to what any of the monsters or fights are like. So I'm getting the feeling that a lot of this may not be up to par with those of you that know the game, but I'm going to do my best with what little information I have. Please wish me luck! -bows-**


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